Former President Joe Biden reminisced on his time in the White House and South Carolina's role in his 2020 campaign victory in a Friday night downtown Columbia visit.
The appearance came six years after Biden's pivotal primary election victory in the early-voting state.
Biden spoke before voters, donors and state Democratic Party officials at the Columbia Museum of Art in a section of the museum's first floor. Though Biden has been criticized for how he handled his 2024 reelection bid, the rare post-presidential public appearance in downtown Columbia attracted nothing but staunch Biden support and political allies.
As the event's FOH Jazz playlist came to a halt, speakers began to take the podium. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, the state's only Democrat in the congressional delegation, introduced Biden and praised the now 83-year-old former president's accomplishments. Clyburn endorsed Biden three days prior to the 2020 presidential primary election in South Carolina.
"We know that there is no American ever who has demonstrated through his service more substance — and I might add sustenance — than Joe Robinette Biden," he said.
The state that once acted as a beacon of hope for Biden's presidential candidacy now served as a pool of reflection. The night, above all else, served as a "thank you" from the state's Democratic Party. Figures like South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain and former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, too, expressed their gratitude for Biden. When Biden eventually took the stage for what would become a 23-minute speech, it was still unclear as to exactly what he would acknowledge. His fondness for the state seemed to be the only guarantee.
"South Carolina, it's good to be home," he said.
South Carolina was pivotal for Biden in 2020 after he lost all other early-voting states in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Biden later pushed national for Democrats to shake up their primary election calendar in 2024, instead putting South Carolina first.
Now, South Carolina is hoping to keep that lead in 2028. It's rivaled by nearly a dozen other states including North Carolina and Iowa. Biden did not address the calendar Friday, but Spain reaffirmed the importance of the state's early role in 2020.
"South Carolina did what South Carolina does best," she said. "We made the difference. We didn't just change the primary, we changed the trajectory of the Democratic Party, and ultimately we changed the country."
Biden said he knew the state would determine his campaign's success.
“I knew if I won the nomination, I’d win the presidency, because I knew what Bill Clinton and Barack Obama knew before me: South Carolina picks presidents,” Biden said. “Not a joke, folks. When it mattered, you were there for me."
Aside from praise for the state he sees as a second home and a recollection of his policy as president, Biden took time out of his speech to denounce President Donald Trump. He criticized the president's lack of action and rhetoric in regard to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Minnesota residents who were shot and killed by federal immigration agents. Nationwide protests, including in South Carolina, were organized after the deaths.
South Carolina's current measles outbreak, which is the largest the nation has seen since eliminating the virus but slowed in spread throughout February, was, too, referenced in Biden's speech as a critique of the current presidential administration.
"Did anyone ever think to ever see a resurgence of measles in American again?" he said.
Biden closed with a mention of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, whom the city of Columbia will hold services for Monday, March 2. He asked for South Carolinians to "keep fighting."
"This is no time to give up," he said. "This is time to get up."
Event attendees ranged from high school students to senior Democratic officials, most of whom called South Carolina home. David Lee, a 30-year-old from New York, made the flight to see Biden. He, like most in the crowd Friday night, said he would not miss the opportunity to see the former president speak.
"This is my very first time in South Carolina," he said. "As was said here tonight, there is a way forward."
In the near future, South Carolina Democrats look at an upcoming gubernatorial race later in the year in which the five current Republican candidates are batting for primary voters. Gov. Henry McMaster has endorsed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette ahead of the primary election in June. State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman and Attorney General Alan Wilson fill out the rest of the Republican field.
The current field of Democrats includes state Rep. Jermaine Johnson and lawyer Mullins McLeod.
