Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), a top surrogate for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, was supposed to appear on CBS News' "Face the Nation" later this Sunday morning, where he likely would have been grilled about what business Biden has staying in the race and remaining as president. As a post from the Face the Nation X account noted, they were supposed to hear from Clyburn, described as "one of the president’s top allies," on "whether the president should stay the course– and what happens if he doesn’t."
We won't know the answers to these potential questions or others, though, at least not on such a program, since Clyburn ended up canceling the interview. The post came at 6pm on Friday night, and just over 20 minutes later, came that note about the cancelation.
"We look forward to hearing from the congressman again soon," the post also noted. It's worth wondering if Clyburn canceled in part because he has to get his talking points straight.
Congressman Clyburn's staff informed Face the Nation this afternoon he needed to cancel Sunday's interview. We look forward to hearing from the congressman again soon.
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 5, 2024
Clyburn was likely going to be hit with some crucial questions. Perhaps, if we were lucky, Clyburn might have been asked why Biden's aides and allies have been trying to keep hidden what's so clear to see, that the president is unwell.
That one of Biden's "top allies," if not the top ally won't come on to answer such pressing questions is telling. How crucial is Clyburn? Biden owes his win in South Carolina's 2020 Democratic primary to Clyburn and his endorsement, and he quite possibly owes winning the nomination and thus the presidency to Clyburn as well. Sure enough, for the 2024 primary, Biden and the DNC then upended the primary schedule so that South Carolina was first.
During his appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" last Sunday, Clyburn said Biden had "a bad debate," but claimed it was because of "preparation overload" and still hid behind the excuse that Biden has a stutter.
Meanwhile, we now now that Biden took naps as part of that "preparation."
Biden campaign co-chair Jim Clyburn claims Biden's humiliating debate performance was just "a classic example of preparation overload" pic.twitter.com/MOa5idjjSE
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 30, 2024
While on MSNBC just a few days later, Clyburn insisted he was still sticking with Biden, but also insisted he'd support Vice President Kamala Harris as the replacement if Biden withdrew from the race.
"No. This party should not, in any way, do anything to work around Ms. Harris. We should do everything we can to bolster her whether she's in second place or at the top of the ticket."
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 2, 2024
WATCH: Rep. Clyburn defends VP Harris role in the Democratic party. pic.twitter.com/IBjn9FJ9Jh
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