Democratic House Majority Whip James Clyburn suggested Sunday that black voters who cast a ballot for President Donald Trump were in need of prayer.
Clyburn spoke with Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier during Fox News’ pre-election coverage, and he made it clear that he was not convinced by polls that suggested Trump was gaining ground within the black community. (RELATED: ‘I Cringed, No Question About That’: James Clyburn Wasn’t Impressed With Biden’s ‘You Ain’t Black’ Fiasco)
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MacCallum began the segment with a question about early voting tallies and data that suggested the majority of Latino and black registered voters had not yet voted, asking Clyburn whether he found those numbers to be concerning.
Clyburn said he was concerned but noted that a number of those could be absentee ballots that had not yet been turned in or counted. That worried him a bit as well, and he said that could also be a reflection of voter suppression.
“So, congressman, what do you think about the possibility that President Trump is doing better in the black community period?” Baier asked. “In our poll, the national poll, he’s up to 14%. Other polls it suggests that he’s gaining in the black and Hispanic communities. You’re, you know, aside from what you’re saying about the mail-in ballots, to you see some shift?”
“I don’t know where those polls come from,” Clyburn said, noting that he had not seen a shift. “I’ve seen polls that say he’s at 8% in the African-American community. And I can tell you what, and I feel this sincerely, I’m the father of three black women. I am the son of a black woman. If any black man can go in — the polling place and cast a vote for a man who referred to a black woman as a dog on national television, I’m going to have to pray for them. I will have to pray for them.”
MacCallum attempted to pose another question, but Clyburn continued. “I don’t know of anybody — abide this disrespect and insult.”
MacCallum pushed back then, saying that there might come a time when voter suppression should be discussed, but the overwhelming turnout seemed to suggest that wasn’t having much impact.
“You know, in the end, we may have to have that discussion, but at this point you’ve got an overwhelmingly large number of people who have already voted. Huge percentages of them have never voted before, and there have been big turnout drives on both sides of the aisle,” she explained.
MacCallum also went on to mention drop-boxes, which she had thought were available in all states — but Clyburn told her that his home state of South Carolina did not have them.
