Biden spends his last full day in office in South Carolina

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden spends his last full day at the office on Sunday at South Carolinaa state that takes on special significance after his landslide victory in the 2020 Democratic primary, which set him up to achieve his life’s goal: being elected President of the United States.

The day before Monday inauguration of the Republican president-elect Donald TrumpBiden planned to say his final goodbyes to the state that brought him to the ball, as he likes to say.

Biden, accompanied by his wife, first lady Jill Biden, was scheduled to visit the Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston to worship and speak about the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the White House said. Monday is the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.

Next, the Bidens will visit the International African American Museum. It was built on a riverside site where tens of thousands of African slaves were brought to the United States between the late 1760s and 1808, according to the museum’s website.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a key Biden ally, said the trip was Biden’s way of saying “thank you” to the state.

“Joe Biden is once again showing who he is by returning to the state that really launched him to the presidency,” Clyburn told The Associated Press in an interview.

The president gave a televised speech farewell speech to the nation on Wednesday.

In 2020, Biden saw his campaign fail after losing opening elections in New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada. But in the fourth stage, in South Carolina – where black voters make up the majority of the Democratic electorate – he was carried to victory after Clyburn’s endorsement.

“I know Joe. We know Joe. But more importantly, Joe knows us,” the congressman said at the time.

After winning the election and taking office, Biden pushed South Carolina to move to the front of the line and be the state that opened the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominating process, instead of New Hampshire. He easily won the state primary that year.

“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the experts wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and put us on a path to winning the presidency,” Biden said in a statement after won the primary for the second time. “Today, in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken up again and I have no doubt that you have put us on track to win the presidency again – and make Donald Trump a loser – at new. »

It didn’t happen that way. After hesitating in a debate against Trump, Biden abandoned the race under pressure from many Democrats, although Clyburn notably was not one of them.

Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced him as the Democratic nominee. She lost to Trump.

Clyburn said Biden told him he wanted to visit the African American History Museum, which Clyburn helped start. They planned to spend time there together.

“It’s his way of saying ‘thank you,'” Clyburn said.

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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.