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South Carolina representative Jim Clyburn has long been one of President Joe Biden’s staunchest allies. Most famously, the former House majority whip’s 2020 endorsement played a key role in Biden’s come-from-behind primary victory in 2020. After Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month, Clyburn has stood behind the president amid calls from other Democrats for Biden to quit his reelection campaign. But he has also expressed an openness to Vice-President Kamala Harris taking the mantle from Biden, as well as a third, more chaotic scenario. If you’ve listened to Clyburn’s comments over the last two weeks, you might be a little confused about what he actually wants. Here’s how his stance has evolved:
The day after the debate, Clyburn told the Associated Press that he planned to speak to the president later that day and advise him to “stay the course.”
Over the next few days, Clyburn hit the airwaves and the campaign trail on Biden’s behalf. On CNN, he attributed Biden’s debate performance to “preparation overload.” He told Milwaukee voters that the showdown between Biden and Trump showed the stark differences between the candidates. “Joe Biden has never been a show horse, he’s always been a work horse. Just the opposite is true with his opponent,” he said, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
However, NBC News reported that Clyburn, along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Representative Nancy Pelosi, expressed concerns about Biden’s viability behind closed doors following the debate, citing sources. Spokesmen from all three House offices denied that such conversations took place and said their bosses are firmly behind the Biden-Harris ticket.
During an interview with CNN on July 3, Clyburn described a scenario in which Biden dropped out and outlined what might happen from there. The Democratic Party, he said, should hold a mini-primary between Vice-President Harris and other prominent names in order to select the best possible candidate.
“You can actually fashion the process that’s already in place to make it a mini-primary, and I would support that,” he said. “We can’t close that down, and we should open up everything for the general election. I think that Kamala Harris would acquit herself very well in that kind of a process, but then it would be fair to everybody.”
Many observers understandably viewed Clyburn’s remarks as support for finding a new Democratic nominee. But Brianna Frias, the congressman’s spokesperson, tried to shut down that line of thinking, even though Clyburn’s comments made her job difficult.
“It is quite obvious that Congressman Clyburn was responding to a hypothetical question,” she said to Politico. “He was not calling for a ‘mini-primary.’ Instead, he was explaining the existing process. The Congressman fully supports President Biden at the top of the ticket and it would be irresponsible to report anything otherwise.”
On July 9, House Democrats held a highly anticipated meeting where members of the caucus were expected to express their views and concerns about Biden’s candidacy and whether he should make room for a new nominee. Though reactions from members exiting the meeting were notably mixed, Clyburn offered his full-throated support for the president — over and over again.
On Thursday, Biden held a high-stakes solo press conference after hosting dozens of world leaders in Washington, D.C., for the NATO Summit. After Biden’s largely competent performance, Clyburn appeared on NBC’s Today show on Friday, arguing that people need to focus on Biden’s substance rather than honing in on the occasional verbal miscue.
“He has one of the best minds that I’ve ever been around, and the people who have been around him will tell you that,” he said.
Clyburn said that the conversation about Biden should focus on his record and the ramifications of a Trump victory in November.
Though Clyburn hardly broke with Biden on Friday, he did express an openness to one candidate in particular: Vice-President Harris. When asked if he would support Harris in the event Biden stepped aside, he was emphatic.
“Absolutely. No question about that,” Clyburn said. “She has acquitted herself well in the job of vice-president and he never would’ve picked her in the first place if he did not think that she was capable of being president. And I think that she’s demonstrated, especially in these recent weeks when all of this microscope has been focused on her and him, she has acquitted herself famously.”
The congressman was asked if he was leaving the door open for more questions about Biden by saying that the decision on his future is up to him, considering the president has made it clear that he has no plans on leaving.
“I take him at his word, and that’s why I am all in,” Clyburn said. “I’m riding with Biden no matter what direction he goes, no matter what method he takes. I’m with Joe Biden.”
He continued, “And if he were to change his mind — I’ll just answer the question — then I would be all in for the vice-president.”
