Rep. James Clyburn Says He ‘Cringed’ Over Joe Biden’s ‘You Ain’t Black’ Comment
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) said he “cringed” after hearing presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden tell The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne tha God “you ain’t black” if you’re still not sure whether to vote for him.
Appearing on The View, Tuesday, Clyburn — whose February endorsement of Biden is widely credited as a major factor in pushing the former vice president to the primary’s key, dominant victory in South Carolina — admitted, “I cringed, no question about that.”
“It’s kind of interesting though, you know Charlamagne tha God is from South Carolina as well. In fact, he and my wife — my late wife — share the same hometown, Moncks Corner. We hung out together last homecoming at South Carolina State, so I know him very well. I know what his job is. His job is to push the buttons, and he does that very well,” Clyburn continued. “In this instance, Joe did not do as well as I had hoped in responding.”
“But I will say this. I go about my business every day comparing Joe Biden to the alternative, not the almighty. He is not a perfect person. None of us are,” he explained. “So my decision now is to determine who I feel should be the next president of the United States and I do that by comparing the candidates to each other, not to the almighty.”
After being asked about Biden’s apology over the comment, Clyburn reiterated, “Look, he’s not a perfect person. All of us have misspoken. I’m a great admirer of Whoopi Goldberg. I’ve loved her a long, long time. I can remember a few times when she was a little bit skittish and apologized in her own way for saying things. I do it all the time. So we sometimes say things we do not really mean, they come out a little bit wrong, and that’s what happened here.”
“I think all of us know Joe Biden. I’ve said that. I know him, and he knows me. He knows the African-American community very well. I’ve done a lot of stuff with Joe Biden over the years, and I would not have supported him if I did not think he was best suited to be the next president of the United States,” Clyburn concluded. “It’s just that simple.”
In his February endorsement of Biden, Clyburn said, “I know Joe. We know. But most importantly, Joe knows us. That’s important… I can think of no one better suited, better prepared, I can think of no one with the integrity, no one more committed to the fundamental principles that make this country what it is, than my good friend, my late wife’s great friend, Joe Biden.”
Just days after his endorsement, however, Clyburn raised major concerns about the Biden campaign.
“I think he will have to do better, no question about that,” declared Clyburn on CNN, noting his “concerns” with the campaign.
“We need to do some retooling in the campaign, no question about that. I did not feel free to speak out about it or even deal with it inside, because I had not committed to his candidacy. I have now. I’m all in,” he commented. “And I’m not going to sit idly by and watch people mishandle this campaign. We are going to get it right.”
Watch above via ABC.
