House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., on Monday warned his Democrat Party is being destroyed by calls to defund the police.
"'Defund the police' is killing our party, and we've got to stop it," he told CBS News, adding he had discussed the topic with his friend, the late Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights leader.
"John Lewis and I were very concerned when these slogans came out about 'defund the police,'" Clyburn commented. "We sat together on the House floor and talked about how that slogan . . . could undermine the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement, just as 'burn, baby, burn' destroyed our movement back in the '60s."
Clyburn added Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., lost his reelection bid against GOP candidate Nancy Mace over calls to defund the police, and he is concerned calls to "defund the police" suffer because of a lack of clarity.
"When I talked to my friends about this, and they say, 'that's not really what we mean,' and I say, 'Well, in this business, you've gotta say what you mean, and you gotta mean what you say, and if you have to explain what you mean, you are losing the argument," Clyburn said.
Racial divisions have always been a problem in the United States and the country must learn how to "mitigate those factors," he added. "Let's just embrace it and do what we can to get beyond it."
The veteran lawmaker, who has been credited for playing a pivotal role for former Vice President Joe Biden's victory in South Carolina, also said Monday he always knew he was going to vote for Biden.
Biden had already lost primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada before the South Carolina primary, and Clyburn's endorsement was credited for attracting Black voters to support the eventual nominee.
Clyburn pointed out he wanted to work so people of color in his state "would have a say-so in who our nominee would be."
This year, 56% of South Carolina's primary voters were Black, and most ended up voting for Biden, marking a major shift in his candidacy.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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