South Carolina lawmakers suggest Biden may be taking black voters in the state for granted


It's safe to say former Vice President Joe Biden's performances in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary did not go as planned.
Fourth- and fifth-place finishes don't look very good when you were once considered the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, but the Biden campaign has been waiting for South Carolina to vote later this month. Biden has traditionally dominated in polls there, and he's still the favorite. But it no longer seems like a lock, Politico reports.
Part of that is because he's apparently losing some steam with the state's black voters. Biden's support among African-American voters has been a major focus of his campaign, but some people believe the vice president has been a little too sure of himself. "I think some people feel like because he had such a wide lead and we have such a long history with him that maybe there was some sort of taking for granted that the support would remain," said Tameika Isaac-Devine, a councilwoman in Columbia, South Carolina, who hasn't endorsed any contender yet.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
South Carolina State Rep. John King said he's backing billionaire Tom Steyer instead of Biden in part because, while the latter may believe he has the state's African-American vote, "he has not spent time in South Carolina and [Steyer's] people are on the ground." Read more at Politico.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
May 31 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include how much to pay for a pardon, medical advice from a brain worm, and a simple solution to the national debt.
-
5 costly cartoons about the national debt
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on the USA's financial hole, rare bipartisan agreement, and Donald Trump and Mike Johnson.
-
Green goddess salad recipe
The Week Recommends Avocado can be the creamy star of the show in this fresh, sharp salad
-
The Biden cover-up: a 'near-treasonous' conspiracy
Talking Point Using 'Trumpian' tactics, the former president's inner circle maintained a conspiracy of silence around his cognitive and physical decline
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media