Representative. Jim Clyburn (DS.C.), whose support saved the President Joe BidenAfter a difficult 2020 primary campaign, he said Friday that he believes Biden remains mentally fit enough to run for re-election but that he would support Vice President Kamala Harris if the president decided to drop out.
Clyburn’s vote of confidence, while somewhat qualified, comes on the heels of BIden’s vote NATO press conference performance on tightrope Thursday night meant dispelling doubts and in the midst of a continuous sequence of defections by Capitol Hill Democrats who would like to see a new party standard-bearer against donald trump in November.
Asked on NBC’s “Today” show whether Biden was still “the same man” Clyburn supported in the 2020 South Carolina primary, Clyburn said: “Physically? I do not think. Mentally? I think so.
“He is still understanding what this country is. He knows what a democracy is. He knows what we need to do as a country to take advantage of the future and maintain our relationship with all of our allies around the world and what we need to do for our voters across the country,” Clyburn said.
Clyburn, 83, supported Biden in his state’s 2020 primary after Biden stumbled badly in Iowa and New Hampshire. Biden’s victory in South Carolina was seen as a turning point in his successful campaign for the White House and Clyburn’s support was seen as a major factor in that victory.
Despite Clyburn’s vote of confidence in Biden, he also said the president — who reiterated again Thursday night that he would remain in the race — should be allowed to make his own decision about running again.
“The conversation should focus on this administration’s record, the alternative to his election and letting Joe Biden continue to make his own decisions,” Clyburn said. “He’s earned that right and I’m going to give him a lot of respect.”
While Biden did a better job answering questions and maintaining his train of thought on Thursday night than he did in his disastrous In the June 27 debate against Trump, three more House Democrats — Reps. Eric Sorensen (Ill.), Scott Peters (Calif.) and Jim Himes (Conn.) — jumped ship and urged Biden not to seek re-election afterward. .
They followed five more House Democrats who defected earlier in the day.
Clyburn said Democrats have until Aug. 19, when the national convention begins in Chicago, to decide the issue, but he supported Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden were to step aside.
“Absolutely. There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “I think she demonstrated, especially in the last few weeks when this whole microscope was focused on her and him, that she performed famously,” he said.
