COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden doesn’t need to worry about his prospects in South Carolina’s Democratic primary next week. He’s got that locked up.
He also knows he’s not likely to win the solidly red state come November. It hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1976.
He’s spent the weekend in the state nonetheless, intent on driving home two messages: He’s loyal to the state that saved his campaign in 2020 and he’s determined to win back Black voters here and elsewhere who were central to his election last time but are less enthused this go-round.
“You’re the reason I am president,” Biden told attendees at the state party’s fundraising dinner ahead of its first ever “first-in-the-nation” Democratic primary on Feb. 3. “You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. And you’re the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president. You’re the reason Donald Trump is a loser. And you’re the reason we’re going to win and beat him again.”
Biden received raved applause and chants of “four more years” from attendees at the dinner, as he criticized his predecessor’s policies and highlighted his efforts to support Black Americans. He was set to spend Sunday in the state where politics and faith are intertwined at a political event at St. John Baptist Church.
Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said of the primary that Biden’s team was working to “blow this out of the water” by running up the score against longshot challengers. The Biden campaign also wants to learn lessons about activating Black voters — the backbone of the party — ahead of an expected 2024 rematch with GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
Biden also reiterated his willingness to take extreme measures to curtail immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border, as lawmakers continue talks on a reform of the country’s immigration policies, saying that he would shut down the border “right now” if such a bill were to pass.
Calling border security “one of the most important issues we’re facing,” Biden said a “bipartisan bill” would give him “the emergency authority to shut down the border until it could get back under control,” noting that it would fund additional border security agents, immigration judges and asylum officers. “If that bill were the law today, I’d shut down the border right now and fix it quickly,” he said.
Saturday was the first time Biden shared a stage with Rep. Dean Phillips, a longshot challenger for the Democratic nomination, who called on the president, 81, to step aside for a younger generation of leaders to take on Trump.
“The numbers do not say things are looking good,” Phillips said of Biden’s poll numbers, at times struggling to hold the attention of the crowd.
“My invitation to president Biden is to pass the torch,” Phillips said.
Struggling to hold the attention of the crowd, many of whom were holding Biden campaign signs ahead of the president’s appearance, Phillips repeatedly asked the audience to quiet down and listen to him.
He told The Associated Press he did not interact with Biden at the event, saying of Biden’s staff, “No. I don’t think they want him to see me.”