James Clyburn, the House majority whip and a key figure in Joe Biden's presidential campaign, has suggested that the 'defund the police' slogan used during Black Lives Matter protests may have harmed Democratic candidates at the polls. In interviews on Sunday, the South Carolina congressman compared the mantra to radical messaging from the 1960s civil rights movement that eroded public support.
Clyburn recalled discussions with the late civil rights icon John Lewis, with whom he co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. 'John and I sat on the House floor and talked about that defund the police slogan, and both of us concluded that it had the possibilities of doing to the Black Lives Matter movement what Burn, Baby, Burn did to us back in the 1960s,' Clyburn said on CNN's State of the Union.
He cited the defeat of South Carolina Senate candidate Jaime Harrison as an example, saying the slogan caused his campaign to plateau. 'That stuff hurt Jaime,' Clyburn told NBC's Meet the Press. 'I've always said that these headlines can kill a political effort.'
Clyburn also criticised the Democratic party's progressive wing, questioning what 'progressive' means. His comments come after Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that failing to include progressives in top positions could lead to losses in the 2022 midterms. She rejected the idea that progressive messaging cost the party seats, arguing that the party should focus on its core supporters rather than centrists.
