South-Carolina
Biden thanks South Carolina on final full day in office – Charleston City Paper
President Joe Biden on Sunday marked the final full day of his presidency by visiting South Carolina, the state that propelled him in 2020 to the presidency.
After a tour of the International African American Museum with his friend, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Biden thanked South Carolinians for their support and spoke on themes of faith and community, history and memory, sacrifice and service.
“Let me close where I started — gratitude for all you’ve done for me,” Biden told an invitation-only crowd at the IAAM. Then he went on to quote a passage from Psalm 37:25, saying, “‘I have been young and now am old. I have not seen the righteous forsaken.’ And after all these years working alongside you [in this state], I know that’s true.”
White House officials said the visit — on the eve of the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — reflected Biden’s commitment to the civil and equal rights movements. That the president chose South Carolina underscores his deep ties to the state, the place that “brought him to the dance,” as he likes to say.
A swansong tour
Biden began his swansong in South Carolina at Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, where he attended a worship service and addressed the congregation. The president spoke about a range of topics, from King’s legacy to the Israel-Hamas cease fire to the challenges facing the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, before taking his seat in the front pew alongside First Lady Jill Biden and Clyburn. Trump is to be sworn in at noon Monday inside the U.S. Capitol after an outdoor ceremony was moved due to cold weather.
After church, the Bidens toured the IAAM, located in downtown Charleston on Gadsden’s Wharf. The site once served as the single largest point of entry for enslaved people in the United States.
After the tour, Biden prepared to address a small crowd of invited supporters and members of the press while a combined choir called Voices of Liberation performed gospel songs.
IAAM President and CEO Tonya Matthews welcomed attendees. The Rev. Joseph Darby delivered an invocation. Dr. Jill Biden offered her own words of gratitude for the state of South Carolina.
And then Clyburn enumerated the president’s extensive contributions to the state in the form of economic investment, saying “from interstates to infrastructure … [Biden] has benefited this state like nobody since Lyndon Johnson.” Clyburn also presented the president with a special commemorative award made of sweetgrass.
Others joining the president during his Charleston visit were daughter Ashley Biden and son Hunter Biden.