Jim Clyburn Says Joe Biden Shouldn't Face A Primary Challenge From Democrats

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024 and said Democrats shouldn’t challenge him for the party’s nomination.

Clyburn, the assistant House Democratic leader, told CBS News  that Biden has passed “more progressive legislation than any president since Lyndon Baines Johnson.”

“I think he’s demonstrated in these two years, soon to be two years, that he is deserved of reelection and I do believe he will be reelected irrespective of who the Republicans may put up,” Clyburn said. 

Former President Donald Trump announced his 2024 candidacy after the November midterm elections saw Republicans narrowly winning control of the House and Democrats maintaining their Senate majority.

Trump is set to hold his first campaign event in South Carolina later this month, where he will be joined by Republicans Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Henry McMaster . 

The GOP is expected to have a crowded field of candidates in 2024, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis floated as a likely challenger to Trump.

Clyburn said he doesn’t expect Biden to face a challenge from Democrats.

“I don’t think he will and I don’t think he should,” Clyburn said.

He added that “the history is very clear on what happens when you challenge a sitting president like this,” pointing to the contest between then-Sen. Ted Kennedy and incumbent President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

While Carter won the Democratic nomination, he lost the general election to Republican Ronald Reagan. 

Clyburn’s comments come as speculation has been mounting over whether Biden is planning another run, and how the findings of classified documents in his former office and in his home could complicate his reelection.

Clyburn said there is no evidence that Biden intentionally seized the classified material. He advised Biden to “stay out of the way” of the Justice Department investigation, led by a special counsel.

“And if any other documents are discovered, do what he’s done before, immediately turn them over,” Clyburn added.

Clyburn offered Biden an important endorsement ahead of South Carolina’s Democratic primary in 2020. That state’s race was critical for the Biden campaign’s survival following poor showings in earlier states.