Latest news with #JimClyburn
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC congressman again proposes closing ‘loophole' that allowed Charleston shooter to buy gun
Rep. Jim Clyburn speaks at his annual fish fry on Friday May 30, 2025. (Photo by Shaun Chornobroff/SC daily Gazette) A decade after nine people were gunned down in a Charleston church, South Carolina's lone Democrat in Congress is launching another effort to close the loophole that allowed the hate-filled shooter to purchase his gun. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, accompanied by a quartet of House Democrats, announced Tuesday the latest proposal to give the FBI longer to complete a background check. Instead of letting a gun sale go through after three business days, the bill would give the FBI up to 20 business days to verify whether a customer checks out. A longer background check may have prevented the tragedy that shocked the nation June 17, 2015. A drug arrest should've prevented then-21-year-old Dylann Roof from buying the gun he used to kill people gathered for a Wednesday night Bible study at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston. But an FBI investigator didn't determine that in time to stop the sale. 'These were all constituents of mine, some of whom I knew very personally,' Clyburn, whose 6th District includes the historic Black church, said at a news conference in Washington, D.C. 'With the kind of background check we are talking about today, we would have prevented that because he would have never gotten a gun.' The gunman, an avowed white supremacist who wanted to start a race war, 'had cased the church. He had researched the church,' Clyburn said one week ahead of the 10-year anniversary. 'And he picked this church because of its history.' A federal jury convicted Roof in December 2016 on 33 counts of federal hate crimes and firearms charges. Weeks later, jurors sentenced him to death. He is among just three inmates left on federal death row after President Joe Biden pardoned 37 other prisoners in December. SC activists call for expanded gun background checks a decade after Mother Emanuel slaying In the aftermath of the shooting, the federal law allowing a licensed firearm dealer to continue with a sale after three days — regardless of whether the check has been completed — became known as the Charleston loophole. State and federal proposals to give the FBI more time have failed repeatedly. A month after the massacre, FBI Director James Comey outlined the clerical errors and jurisdictional confusion that let the gun sale go through, saying 'The bottom line is clear: Dylann Roof should not have been able to legally buy that gun that day.' Then-Gov. Nikki Haley said that knowledge made her 'literally sick to my stomach.' Her response was to criticize the FBI for still relying on paperwork, saying technology, not more time, is the solution. Pro-gun lobbying groups, including the National Rifle Association, remain staunchly opposed to extending background checks, arguing extended checks could put people in danger as they wait. The NRA has also noted that two months lapsed between Roof buying the gun and the shooting. The group contends extending the three-day required wait would not have stopped him. Nationwide, 22 states have either extended the wait for a background check beyond three days or eliminated the ability for a sale to proceed before a check is complete, no matter how long it takes, according to the gun safety nonprofit Everytown. In the Southeast, those states include Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. The bill Clyburn announced Tuesday is very similar to legislation that passed the U.S. House in 2019 and 2021, when Democrats controlled the chamber. Neither got a vote on the Senate floor. Legislation he introduced in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, never made it out of committee. At the news conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pleaded for Republicans to support the bill. 'The gun violence epidemic that has ravaged America for far too long in such horrific ways, in such deeply personal ways, in such searing ways, requires an aggressive, commonsense response,' said the New York Democrat, adding, 'We just need a handful of Republicans to join us.'
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Democrats wrestle with 'geriatric problem'
For 33 years, Congressman Jim Clyburn's "world famous fish fry" has been a must-attend event for members of the Democratic Party hoping to make a splash on the national stage. But after a blistering electoral defeat and with an aging old guard, some are wondering if it's time for the party to make some new was just over five years ago here in South Carolina, that the then-79-year-old Clyburn, a Democratic kingmaker in the state, gave the then-77-year-old Joe Biden his highly coveted presidential endorsement. His past picks – like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton – have all won the party's nomination, if not the White endorsement of Biden is widely regarded as helping the former vice-president win South Carolina's primary and turn the tide in his struggling campaign. Since then, Democrats have had to re-evaluate their choice for the aging Biden – who grudgingly abandoned his re-election bid last year amid a rising din of questions about his his successor, Vice-President Kamala Harris, lost to Donald Trump, many wondered if he had hung on too long. Then last month, Biden announced he had stage 4 prostate cancer, a condition with a grim prognosis that would have presented a national crisis if he had managed to win cancer diagnosis raises fresh questions about his health in White HouseWhat we know about Biden's cancer diagnosesAudio emerges of Biden's 'poor memory' interview with investigator Now many within the party, including some of those dining on fried fish and white bread at Clyburn's gathering last Friday, are wondering if it's time the party found new blood - especially after three congressional Democrats died in office this year alone. The losses meant that the Republicans' slim majority in Congress was bolstered, allowing them to pass Trump's controversial spending bill by a single vote."We have a geriatric problem," said Ashley McIntyre Stewart, specifically noting the recent House spending bill. "We need to get the younger community involved so that we don't have the Republicans railroad us."According to a survey last month by Axios, more than half of the 30 Democrats in the House over age 75 are planning to seek re-election next year, including Clyburn, whose term would end when he is 88 if he veteran politician scoffed at the idea of retiring. "I will respond to the voters of South Carolina," he told media who were at the fish fry. "I've been with them all month, and not a single one of them said to me that they think I'm too old. Every one of them said to me, please don't leave."He also bristled at the second-guessing over whether Biden should have stepped aside earlier, saying that his children and grandchildren don't care about the former president's choice."They're going to ask me what did you do to make sure I got a better life," he said. "That's all I'm concentrating on."Democratic voters have tended to accept the risks that come with electing older politicians to office, prioritising governing experience over youth and vitality. In 2024, only two Democratic incumbents in Congress lost their party's nomination, and both – Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York – were relative newcomers under the age of have their own crop of elderly politicians too, including the 78 year-old president. But 2020's electoral battering and Biden's health revelations have caused some Godwin, a Democrat from Chicago, was visiting South Carolina and stopped by the fish fry to see Clyburn and hear from the two Democratic governors, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Wes Moore of Maryland, invited to speak. He said he respected the wisdom of elderly politicians like Clyburn and Biden, but his party needed a youth movement."We need the activists," he said. "We need the energy from a variety of different backgrounds - not just age - to really come put our hands together and work toward getting some real elections won."There are signs some young upstarts are taking heed: Saikat Chakrabarti, the 39-year-old former chief of staff to Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is challenging former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her San Francisco Congressional primary. Jake Rakov, 37, is going after the seat of his former boss, 15-term incumbent Rep Brad Sherman, 70. Voters are craving "new ideas and new energy to get Congress to actually work again," he told a local news outlet, the Bay Area Reporter, in April. At the fish fry, winning elections after last year's disappointment and the challenges of Trump's aggressive second term agenda were the focus of speeches from two Democratic governors, who are also potential 2028 presidential the 61-year-old who was his party's vice-presidential nominee last year, may not exactly be a fresh face some in the party are looking for, although he received a warm reception from the South Carolina audience. Maryland's Moore – a 46-year-old military veteran who is only the third black governor in US history – generated the most animated response, as he spoke about the "baton" being in his generation's hands."We're about to send a message the entire country is going to hear," he said. "This is our time. This is our moment. We will not shirk, we will not flinch, we will not blink. We will win, just as those who came before us did."Democrats may have won in the past, but last year's defeat was particularly stinging – and Trump's first months back in power have put the party in a deep hole, with years' worth of work needed to rebuild Democrat-backed government programmes and replenish worker rolls that have been slashed by the Republicans."I gave Donald Trump credit for this," Waltz said. "He moves so quickly and so fast for bad things, we better be ready to move quickly and fast for good things."Waltz said that Democrats needed to have "tough conversations" about how to win back the voters who flipped to Trump last a few years, South Carolina will once again be a pivotal battleground in the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination. The kind of candidate who comes out on top will be determined in part by the conversations – including how to balance age and experience with youth and energy - happening at this fish fry and in other Democratic gatherings across the country in the days ahead.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Should SC lead off or bat clean-up in the Dem primary order? What Clyburn thinks
When the Democratic National Committee decides its presidential nominating contest order, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Santee, said all he wants is for South Carolina to be in the early primary window. Clyburn told reporters at his annual fish fry he's not concerned about South Carolina being the lead off contest, after the Democratic Party kicked off its 2024 presidential nominating process with the Palmetto State. 'I never asked for anything more than keep us in the pre-primary window which covers a whole month before the primary starts,' Clyburn said. 'So I think it's important to the party for that to be the case. Whether it be one, two, three or four, I don't care.' Clyburn, South Carolina's lone Democratic elected federal official, likened the primary order to a baseball batting lineup. 'The most important hitter on a baseball team, is clean up hitter. He comes in fourth place,' Clyburn said. 'And South Carolina has always been fourth, and we demonstrated how important being in fourth place was.' The Democratic National Committee is expected to reevaluate its presidential primary order after then-President Joe Biden said it should be looked at every four years. A decision on the 2028 order could come as soon as the end of 2026. Before 2024, South Carolina was the First in the South Presidential Primary for both the Republican and Democratic parties. Since the 1992 presidential race, the winner of the South Carolina Democratic nominating contest has historically gone on to be the nominee. The lone exceptions have been in 2004 when John Edwards won the primary, but ended up being the vice presidential running mate for John Kerry, and in 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden shortly before the national convention. In 2020, Biden lost the first three nominating contests. But after receiving Clyburn's endorsement ahead the Palmetto State primary, Biden won South Carolina and went on to the nomination and the White House. New Hampshire has a state law that says it has to hold the first presidential primary in the country, but the Democratic Party opted to make South Carolina the first in its primary process at the wishes of Biden. Clyburn made his comments while speaking to the media shortly before appearing at his annual fish fry, an event that has become a must attend for potential presidential candidates. He was flanked by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Although the weekend was formally meant to elect party leadership for the next two years, it also served as a pep rally to energize party faithful and activists. 'Back in the 2000 election, when they decided to show us a red and blue map, and they defined and divided the country, and it got into people's heads and now they see a map and they say, oh, 'South Carolina, that's deep red.' Well, I beg to differ, this room doesn't look like it's deep red,' Walz said at the Blue Palmetto Dinner. Moore, seen as a potential 2028 candidate who insisted he wasn't thinking about a presidential campaign in three years, gave passionate remarks Friday night that resembled a presidential campaign stump speech. 'This is the moment for us to say together in one voice, gone are the days when the Democrats are the party of no and slow. We must be the party of yes and now,' Moore said. 'Gone are the days when we are the party of bureaucracy. Gone are the days when we are the party of multiyear studies on things that we already know. Gone are the days when we are the party of panels. Gone are the days when we are the party of college debate club rules. We must be the party of action, and that action must come now.' But he insisted he wasn't thinking about 2028. 'I've been very clear that first that no, I'm not running. But the thing I'm also very clear about is anyone who's talking about 2028 is not taking 2025 very seriously,' Moore said.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Potential 2028 presidential hopefuls Moore, Walz steal show at South Carolina Democratic weekend
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks at South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn's World Famous Fish Fry, an annual gathering of South Carolina Democrats, on Friday, May 30, 2025. (Photo by Shaun Chornobroff/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA, S.C. — Minutes before 10 p.m. Friday, after Democratic speakers led the audience in jeers to Republicans' efforts to slash jobs and health care, and encouraged people to get involved and vote, line dancing broke out. That mix of politics and fun, mostly the latter, is what makes Rep. Jim Clyburn's (D-S.C.) annual fish fry in the state's capital city so popular, attendees said. 'We all came out, and everybody's enjoying themselves,' said Shantell Zimmerman, 58, of Columbia. 'It brings out the community,' agreed Dionne Brown, 55, of Irmo, who's been attending the event for six years. 'Then we actually get to discuss our views and takeaways.' Hundreds of people attended the event that started in 1992, the year voters first elected Clyburn to the 6th Congressional District, as a thank you to the voters who couldn't afford the Democratic Party's high-dollar fundraisers. Over time, the 'World Famous Annual Fish Fry' — which includes free food and drinks — has become a must-attend event for Democrats seeking local, statewide and national office. This year was no different, even if Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate — said they're not running for the 2028 nomination. 'I know I'm not running,' Moore told reporters Friday. 'But the thing I'm also very clear about is that anyone who's talking about 2028 is not taking 2025 very seriously.' Moore and Walz, as well as Clyburn and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison of Columbia, emphasized the importance of focusing on what's happening now in Washington, D.C. Proposed cuts to government safety nets like Medicaid and billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to rapidly slash federal spending were among the topics the governors touched on Friday during speeches at the fish fry, as well as the state Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Fundraising Dinner the same night. 'I taught school long enough to know it's because they're weak and they're bullies, and when you stand up to them, they fade away,' said Walz, a former high school geography teacher. While both declined suggestions that they're running for president, there's wide speculation otherwise. Their addresses at the events in South Carolina — which last year got promoted from holding the Democratic Party's first-in-the-South to first-in-the-nation presidential primary — sounded a lot like campaign speeches. Walz will also speak Saturday at the state Democratic Party's annual convention. Lucy Owens, an Anderson County delegate to the state convention, discounted the governors' refusals, saying the 2028 presidential campaign has clearly begun. 'They're all going to come through here. They're the first ones,' she said of Moore and Walz. In 2019, the fish fry drew more than 20 potential candidates hoping to appeal to South Carolina Democrats. The following year, Joe Biden won the South Carolina Democratic primary, a victory that ended up vaulting him to the presidency. South Carolina's primary was elevated for 2024 as Biden's thank you to the state. With Biden gone, the Democratic party in flux, and Harrison no longer leading the national party, South Carolina maintaining its first-in-the-nation status is in question. Clyburn's comments Friday suggest he knows it won't. He doesn't care if the state is first, just that it's early, he said. 'The most important hitter on a team is the cleanup hitter. He comes in fourth place,' Clyburn told reporters at his event. 'I'm not concerned about whether or not we're first, second, third. Please, let us be at least four.' That would take South Carolina back to having the first primary in the South. In the aftermath of Trump's landslide victory and the Republican Party gaining control of both chambers of Congress, the Democratic Party is in a reset. Walz and Moore, the first Black governor in Maryland's history, are among the early faces of it. Winning South Carolina, which changed the trajectory of Biden's 2020 presidential run, will be crucial for Democratic hopefuls. Owens, the Anderson County delegate, pointed to the stage where Walz and Moore spoke, saying every Democrat who wants to be president will eventually appear in that exact spot. 'They got to come through here. Not South Carolina. They got to go right there,' she said. Both governors received raucous ovations from South Carolina Democrats, drawing cheers, standing ovations and even a few laughs as they took shots at the GOP. Owens said 'they're both very great candidates,' and she's 'excited' to hear more from them over the coming years. That was the general consensus from attendees who spoke with the SC Daily Gazette. But they were significantly more familiar with Walz because of his time on the campaign trail last year with Vice President Harris. 'I know less about Wes Moore than I do about Tim Walz, but I think he's a good speaker,' said Laura Lowery, a 69-year-old from Fountain Inn. 'I think he's done a good job in his state as well.' Moore has recently come under fire for vetoing a bill that would establish a commission to examine state and federal policies from 1877 to 1965 and come up with recommendations for reparations. South Carolina Rep. John King, D-Rock Hill, had asked the state party to remove Moore as the keynote speaker at Friday's Blue Palmetto Dinner because of the veto. Party leaders never responded to questions about that request. But for at least some attendees, the veto perturbed them too. 'I didn't understand why he would do that,' said Tonya Winbush of Anderson. But once Winbush, a 50-year-old Army veteran, heard Moore speak about his time in the Army, as well as his pardoning of 175,000 people with convictions for cannabis possession, her opinion changed. 'I think when you don't know the whole story and you just listen to sound bites, which is what we do a lot, we'll make brash judgments about people, when we are really fighting the same fight,' she said. – This story first appeared in the South Carolina Daily Gazette, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@ SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Should SC lead off or bat clean-up in the Dem primary order. What Clyburn thinks
When the Democratic National Committee decides its presidential nominating contest order, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Santee, said all he wants is for South Carolina to be in the early primary window. Clyburn told reporters at his annual fish fry he's not concerned about South Carolina being the lead off contest, after the Democratic Party kicked off its 2024 presidential nominating process with the Palmetto State. 'I never asked for anything more than keep us in the pre-primary window which covers a whole month before the primary starts,' Clyburn said. 'So I think it's important to the party for that to be the case. Whether it be one, two, three or four, I don't care.' Clyburn, South Carolina's lone Democratic elected federal official, likened the primary order to a baseball batting lineup. 'The most important hitter on a baseball team, is clean up hitter. He comes in fourth place,' Clyburn said. 'And South Carolina has always been fourth, and we demonstrated how important being in fourth place was.' The Democratic National Committee is expected to reevaluate its presidential primary order after then-President Joe Biden said it should be looked at every four years. A decision on the 2028 order could come as soon as the end of 2026. Before 2024, South Carolina was the First in the South Presidential Primary for both the Republican and Democratic parties. Since the 1992 presidential race, the winner of the South Carolina Democratic nominating contest has historically gone on to be the nominee. The lone exceptions have been in 2004 when John Edwards won the primary, but ended up being the vice presidential running mate for John Kerry, and in 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden shortly before the national convention. In 2020, Biden lost the first three nominating contests. But after receiving Clyburn's endorsement ahead the Palmetto State primary, Biden won South Carolina and went on to the nomination and the White House. New Hampshire has a state law that says it has to hold the first presidential primary in the country, but the Democratic Party opted to make South Carolina the first in its primary process at the wishes of Biden. Clyburn made his comments while speaking to the media shortly before appearing at his annual fish fry, an event that has become a must attend for potential presidential candidates. He was flanked by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. Although the weekend was formally meant to elect party leadership for the next two years, it also served as a pep rally to energize party faithful and activists. 'Back in the 2000 election, when they decided to show us a red and blue map, and they defined and divided the country, and it got into people's heads and now they see a map and they say, oh, 'South Carolina, that's deep red.' Well, I beg to differ, this room doesn't look like it's deep red,' Walz said at the Blue Palmetto Dinner. Moore, seen as a potential 2028 candidate who insisted he wasn't thinking about a presidential campaign in three years, gave passionate remarks Friday night that resembled a presidential campaign stump speech. 'This is the moment for us to say together in one voice, gone are the days when the Democrats are the party of no and slow. We must be the party of yes and now,' Moore said. 'Gone are the days when we are the party of bureaucracy. Gone are the days when we are the party of multiyear studies on things that we already know. Gone are the days when we are the party of panels. Gone are the days when we are the party of college debate club rules. We must be the party of action, and that action must come now.' But he insisted he wasn't thinking about 2028. 'I've been very clear that first that no, I'm not running. But the thing I'm also very clear about is anyone who's talking about 2028 is not taking 2025 very seriously,' Moore said.
