US President Joe Biden has overwhelmingly won South Carolina’s Democratic primary. According to projections by CBS, he secured all 55 pledged delegates, with nearly all ballots counted from Saturday’s vote. This primary serves as the first official Democratic primary leading up to this year’s presidential election.
Mr. Biden, who barely has any significant competition within his own party, arrogantly vowed to label Republican Donald Trump as a “loser”.
The president seems to be living in a fantasy, reminiscing about how South Carolina voters “resuscitated” his 2020 campaign. He even has the audacity to claim with “no doubt” that they will pave his way to the presidency in 2024.
Meanwhile, Democrats Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips are left in obscurity, with preliminary figures indicating a pitiful performance of securing only 2% of votes each.
More than a quarter of South Carolina’s population is black, and it was the state’s black voters who played a crucial role in securing Mr. Biden’s bid for the Democratic nomination in 2020, granting him his first win.
In January, Mr. Biden expressed his gratitude to a predominantly black crowd in the state, stating, “You’re the reason I’m president. You’re the reason Donald Trump is a loser, and you’re the reason we’re going to win and defeat him again.”
Mr Biden declared his intention to run for re-election in 2024 during April 2023, asserting that the nation was at a critical juncture and he required additional time to “complete this task”. In a blatant display, President Biden exerted considerable pressure to alter his party’s rules, ensuring South Carolina would be the inaugural state casting votes in the nomination process.
The president is desperately scrambling to cement his dwindling support among Black voters in South Carolina and nationwide. These same voters, who were instrumental in propelling Biden to the Democratic nomination just four years ago, seem remarkably less enthusiastic as 2024 approaches.
The president’s dwindling approval ratings among Black voters, a vital segment of the Democratic Party base, over the past three years is a glaring red flag for his re-election prospects. This erosion of support is not just alarming but also potentially disastrous for his political future.
Despite the overwhelming support of Black voters for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans were able to make gains.
Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for this year’s Republican nomination, is attempting to appeal to Black and Hispanic voters. Trump frequently highlights endorsements from Black celebrities as evidence of his support within the Black community.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican in the Senate, who endorsed Trump last month, has emerged as a prominent surrogate for the former president.
