President Joe Biden headlined the First in the Nation Democratic Party celebration dinner on Saturday at the state fairgrounds in Columbia.
This is the first year that South Carolina is the first state in the nation to hold a Democratic primary following changes to the previous lineup.
One of the main reasons for Biden’s visit was to re-secure campaign support among Black voters, who were key to him winning South Carolina in the 2020 primary, according to Live 5 News. These voters have become less motivated during this election season due to the perceived slow pace of the administration fulfilling their campaign promises, AP News said.
Biden was joined by other notable Democrats including Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison and Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips who is campaigning against Biden in the primary.
This event marked Biden’s second visit to the state this month after speaking at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on Jan. 8. His visit also follows recent visits to the area from Vice President Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, California Governor Gavin Newsom and First Lady Jill Biden.
Throughout his speech, Biden repeated the theme of “promises made and promises kept,” in regards to campaign promises that his administration followed through on. He recapped much of what has been done in the past three years including placing the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and expunging federal marijuana records.
"You're the reason I am president," Biden said about his black supporters. "You are the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. You are the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former president."
Biden also talked about what he has done regarding education, including an increase in investments in higher education and cancelling student loan debt for certain groups of citizens.
“I promise you, we'd make record investments in HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities), including South Carolina’s eight HBCUs," Biden said. "I've invested so far $7 billion."
He also celebrated cancelling $130 billion in student loan debt for some individuals, such as teachers, police officers and firefighters. Biden also promised that more individuals, beginning in February, will also start to see their student loans forgiven.
The president touched on several other important voter issues throughout his speech including abortion, healthcare and the economy where he both recapped what his administration has done so far and what he plans to do if he secures re-election in November.
"If you re-elect me and Kamala, with the Democratic house and a bigger majority in the Senate in November, imagine a future where we restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again," Biden said.
In terms of healthcare, Congressman Jim Clyburn, who represents South Carolina's sixth Congressional district, discussed how Biden's healthcare plans would positively impact South Carolinians. Some of his goals include lowering the cost of insulin, as well as reducing the cost of Medicare to a maximum of $2,000 per year for senior citizens, starting in January 2025.
Biden talked about the growth of the economy during his term, saying that it had grown faster in the last six months than it ever did during the four years of the Trump administration.
Biden also promoted the increase in jobs across the United States, especially within the manufacturing sector.
"We're exporting American products, and we're bringing American jobs back home ... 800,000 new manufacturing jobs and counting," Biden said.
Biden closed his speech by urging voters to unify and vote to save American democracy so future generations can say, "America's democracy was at risk, and we saved it."
Biden’s speech was interrupted three different times by protesters, two of whom called for a ceasefire in Gaza and another who urged Biden to declare a climate emergency.
The protesters were quickly escorted out and were drowned out by chants of “four more years" from the crowd.
Both Clyburn and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge talked about their interpretation of Biden's leadership skills as president.
“He believes that all of us are citizens of this great nation, every one of us ... He believes in freedom, and justice and equality," Fudge said.
Clyburn in his speech focused on what Biden and his administration did when he first came into office at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Joe Biden saw that we needed enlightened leadership," Clyburn said. "He saw that we needed strength in our leadership. He saw that we needed to have somebody that will get our children back in school, get our businesses back and reopened, get our economy back going again.”
Clyburn's speech also covered some of Biden’s biggest legislative advancements throughout his term including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act and how they helped South Carolinians.
The Democratic presidential primary will take place on Feb. 3, although early voting is open now. Registered voters can check precinct locations and request an absentee ballot through scvotes.gov.