CNN’s Daniel Strauss said Monday that South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn’s warning to President Joe Biden signals “serious reasons” for the campaign to take “course correction” ahead of the election.
Clyburn told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday he is “very concerned” about Biden’s standing with black voters.
“I have no problem with the Biden Administration and what it has done,” Clyburn said. “My problem is, we have not been able to break through that MAGA wall in order to get to people exactly what this president has done … So this president is keeping his promises, but people keep focusing on the one or two things he did not get accomplished.” (RELATED: CNN Pundits Are Distraught That Biden Challenger Didn’t Kiss The Party’s Diversity Ring)
“You always got to give it to Congressman Clyburn. You always know where he stands,” Strauss said in response to the clip. “There are only a few lawmakers who Joe Biden owes his career as much to as James Clyburn. The other would probably be former president Barack Obama. And both Obama himself, in a recent Washington Post story, and Clyburn on air, have expressed concerns about whether this Biden reelect campaign is breaking through to voters. I can’t think of anyone else that Biden himself or Biden high command would be more receptive to than those two.”
“And so it’s a sign that democratic concerns aren’t just sort of hyperventilating as some Democrats have said, about the re-elect. There are serious reasons that there might need to be a course correction on the Biden campaign at this point in the cycle,” he added.
Clyburn is largely credited with helping revive Biden’s 2020 presidential bid after Biden appeared to be at risk for losing the primary. Clyburn’s concerns are not new, with former President Barack Obama telling Biden during a lunch he was concerned about Biden’s campaign infrastructure, The Washington Post reported.
Clyburn has dismissed polls showing Biden losing support amongst black voters, arguing when it comes time for the general election, black voters will turn out.
Biden’s lead among black voters has declined since his 2020 win. An October Fox News poll showed Biden leading former President Donald Trump 74-26 in that demographic, down from his 92% share of the black vote in 2020.