Biden at SC church service: ‘I don’t expect anything. I’m here to earn your vote.’
The morning after finishing well short of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in Nevada’s caucuses, former Vice President Joe Biden was back in South Carolina, making his case to African Americans, a key constituency in Saturday’s Democratic presidential preference primary.
The longtime favorite in polls of South Carolina Democrats, Biden attended and spoke during a church service at the Royal Ministry Baptist Church in North Charleston, his first post-Nevada campaign stop in the Palmetto State, whose contest will be the first test of candidates’ appeal to black voters, who have shown Biden tremendous support throughout the campaign.
During the service, Biden said South Carolina voters have the power to influence the outcomes in the Super Tuesday states, some of which have large African American populations. Super Tuesday refers to contests on March 3 just days after South Carolina’s primary, when 14 states across the nation and one U.S. territory hold contests to pick their preferred presidential nominees and more than a third of all delegates are at stake.
“Although I’ve had a lot support from the community my whole career, I don’t expect anything. I’m here to earn your vote. I’m here to earn your support,” Biden said Sunday to congregants. “You have in your hands the power, unlike any time in a long time, to determine who the next Democratic nominee will be.”
One person who could sway African American voters in South Carolina is U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-Columbia, who has yet to make an endorsement in the primary. The majority whip in the U.S. House and the highest ranking South Carolina Democratic, Clyburn said he would make that announcement on Wednesday.
“The endorsement will be a big deal, no matter who he endorses,” said Biden, who added he spoke to Clyburn recently but would leave the details of the conversation private.
Biden, who stayed for the entire service after speaking to attendees, shook hands with church attendees and even clapped along while congregants performed upbeat, toe-tapping music.
His week in South Carolina includes stops in Sumter, Spartanburg, Georgetown and Charleston. He plans to end the week in Columbia, where he’s scheduled to watch the returns.
Biden returned to South Carolina after what is shaping up to be a distant finish in Nevada behind Sanders, of Vermont, with the former vice president competing to hold on at second place with results still being counted. That contest followed disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. Biden’s lead in the polls in South Carolina has shrunk as California billionaire businessman and philanthropist Tom Steyer has gained support after sizable investments in staffing and advertising in the state.
South Carolina had been considered a firewall for Biden in the primary race, and he needs to perform well here — a state where he has enjoyed leads among Democratic voters and African Americans in the polls — to gain momentum in the nominating contest as it explodes across the country.
Having seen challengers cut into his support, Biden said Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation that he thinks Steyer’s spending has led to the drop in African American support for the former vice president’s campaign, The Hill reported.
“What’s happening is you have Steyer spending millions of dollars out campaigning there, so I think a lot’s happening in terms of the amount of money being spent by billionaires to try to cut into the African American vote,” Biden told host Margaret Brennan.
While speaking to reporters after the church service, Biden said he was not worried about Steyer possibly gaining votes on Saturday from people who may have previously supported the vice president.
Biden then went on to point out Steyer’s previous investments in private prisons, something the Obama administration worked to eliminate. Steyer’s hedge fund at one point had stock in private prisons worth $90 million.
“Granted he acknowledged that it was a mistake, but I don’t know what he did with the money,” Biden said.
Biden was joined at the church service by his wife, Jill Biden, their granddaughter and Democratic state Reps. David Mack and Marvin Pendarvis from Charleston County.
While introducing Biden, Mack made reference to how Steyer has hired some state legislators as advisers on his campaign.
“I’m not getting paid, I’m here because I believe in this gentleman,” Mack said. “Biden has values and the experience and integrity to get us straight on day one.”
Speaking to the predominantly African American church congregation, Biden spoke about race and hate in the country and went so far as to compare President Donald Trump to George Wallace, a populist and segregationist who unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1960s.
“It’s time to give the marginalized, the demonized, the isolated, the oppressed, the full share of the American Dream, to rip out the roots of systemic racism in this country because the country has seen the ugly side again,” Biden said.
Among those to attend the Sunday service was Velma Smith, 70, who is supporting Biden in Saturday’s primary.
“He’s got a kind heart, he’s for the people, he tells it like it is,” Smith said. “He’s not someone who pretends.”
She said she wants whoever ends up being the nominee to focus on fixing health care and improving wages for people. She added she would vote for whoever is the Democratic nominee.
“Democrats shouldn’t be fighting against one another. We need to pull together, whoever it’s going to be,” Smith said.
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Biden at SC church service: ‘I don’t expect anything. I’m here to earn your vote.’."
