![](\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/biden-can-t-beat-the-maga-meme-machine-online-kingmaker-clyburn-says.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden\u2019s reelection bid won\u2019t be won by million-dollar ad buys or social media sound bites, says U.S. Representative James Clyburn, the man who was key to Biden\u2019s 2020 win.<\/p>\n
Republican candidate Donald Trump\u2019s supporters have built a\u00a0\u201cMAGA wall\u201d online of memes and social media noise\u00a0that is overwhelming news about Biden\u2019s economic and policy wins, making it impossible to get Democrats\u2019 message across, Clyburn said in a recent interview in his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina.<\/p>\n
Clyburn, who at 83 is arguably the most influential Black political voice in the United States, says Biden\u2019s campaign needs to focus more attention on building a historic ground game filled with \u201cvoices and validators\u201d who can energize voters and combat a looming disinformation campaign.\u201dIf we are going to be successful in this campaign, we are going to have to have what I call hand-to-hand combat, boots on the ground. We are going to have to do what is necessary to circumvent, or smash through that MAGA wall that is being built on sound bites,\u201d Clyburn said, referring to the acronym for Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again slogan.<\/p>\n
Asked for comment, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, \u201cCrooked Joe Biden and his allies are scared because they know that no amount of excuses can explain away four years of misery and destruction under their watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden is projected to cruise to victory in Saturday\u2019s South Carolina primary election, the first officially sanctioned contest in the Democratic nomination race. He is expected to face Trump in November in a rematch of the 2020 election.<\/p>\n
Four years ago, Clyburn effectively resuscitated Biden\u2019s struggling presidential campaign with an endorsement that gave the candidate a comeback primary election victory in South Carolina.<\/p>\n
The congressman\u2019s call for an unprecedented ground game \u2013 which includes enlisting people to knock on doors and speak at social gatherings \u2013 underscores his deep concerns about a looming widespread disinformation campaign.<\/p>\n
It also\u00a0reflects broader concerns over whether Biden, 81, has the skills and charisma needed to sell the public on his accomplishments and the economy. The president spent last summer touring the country to boast about his economic accomplishments, but voters still give him poor marks on the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when people tell me what a bad communicator Joe Biden has been, I say to them, don\u2019t confuse goodness with weakness. These are people who basically want to hear a sound bite that makes for a good headline, but that sound bite seldom makes good headway. And Joe Biden is all about making headway,\u201d Clyburn said.<\/p>\n
The South Carolina congressman, one several Biden campaign co-chairs, is part of a small group of Democrats that include Barack Obama who are urging Biden to ramp up his campaign efforts and take a more offensive posture against Trump.<\/p>\n
The campaign has begun heeding those calls, with Biden invoking Trump much more often and top staffers leaving the White House to bolster the campaign.<\/p>\n
Clyburn said he advised the Biden campaign to look at how former Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney, a white Democrat, won two terms in a majority Black city in 2015 and 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was boots on the ground. He won that race from door to door,\u201d Clyburn said.<\/p>\n
During a\u00a0recent dinner celebrating South Carolina\u2019s\u00a0rise to the top of the Democratic Party\u2019s nominating calendar, Clyburn offered evidence of the power of what he calls validators. In the cadence of a pastor, Clyburn preached to the crowd of largely Black supporters about Biden\u2019s accomplishments, often speaking in the local parlance of someone who has spent eight decades in the region.<\/p>\n
When Biden took the stage, he quipped: \u201cIf I were smart, I\u2019d say thank you and leave. Jim made the case for me better than I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow the
\nCyprus Mail on Google News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
– U.S. Representative James Clyburn believes President Joe Biden’s reelection bid requires a strong ground campaign rather than relying on expensive ads or social media.
\n– Clyburn suggests that Biden’s campaign should combat disinformation and the “MAGA wall” of online content from Donald Trump’s supporters.
\n– Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung criticized Biden’s tenure as president.
\n– Biden is expected to win the South Carolina primary election and potentially face Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election.
\n– Clyburn’s endorsement in 2020 was pivotal for Biden’s primary election victory in South Carolina.
\n– Clyburn is concerned about disinformation campaigns and believes Biden needs to effectively communicate his accomplishments.
\n– Clyburn, along with other influential Democrats like Barack Obama, is advising Biden to intensify his campaign efforts.
\n– Biden’s campaign has started to respond to this advice, with Biden mentioning Trump more frequently and staff changes to strengthen the campaign.
\n– Clyburn referenced former Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney’s successful campaign strategy, emphasizing the importance of direct voter engagement.
\n– At a recent dinner, Clyburn highlighted Biden’s achievements to supporters, and Biden acknowledged Clyburn’s effective advocacy on his behalf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[492,279,3,260,166,26,250,756,148,618,544,755,173,457,165,18],"class_list":["post-2831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-biden","tag-comment","tag-cyprus","tag-dollar","tag-donald-trump","tag-economy","tag-google","tag-joe-biden","tag-local","tag-top","tag-united-states","tag-us-election","tag-usa","tag-white","tag-white-house","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n