CHARLESTON, S.C. — Amid declining support from Black voters, President Joe Biden headed Monday to Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of a horrific hate crime in which a white supremacist massacred nine worshippers in 2015 — what his campaign sees as a high-stakes address as he kicks off the election year.
The address at the historic church, known as “Mother Emanuel,” comes just days after Biden kicked off the campaign year near Valley Forge, Pa., criticizing Trump for his actions during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Biden reiterated these themes and spent time highlighting the experiences of Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss, two Georgia election workers who were the subject of various right-wing attacks and conspiracy theories, calling them “two brave black women”.
He also pushed back on Republican attempts to sanitize the events of Jan. 6, saying, “They tried to steal an election and now they’re trying to steal history.”
“I think it’s important for him to come,” said state Rep. JA Moore, whose sister was among those killed at the church. “We’re at a very critical moment after what Donald Trump has stoked.”
Poll numbers show Biden’s support among Black voters — especially Black men — is slipping dramatically. Biden carried 92% of Black voters in 2020, but recent polling found as many as 20% open to voting for Trump.
Biden took a dig at another Republican candidate, Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, saying “For those who don’t seem to know, slavery was the cause of the Civil War” referencing her widely criticized comments on the matter.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., whose endorsement helped catapult Biden to a crucial win in South Carolina’s primary in 2020, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was “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 that we have not been able to…
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