World
Energizing South Carolina's Black voters is crucial to Biden as campaign looks ahead to swing states
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The Democrats’ first primary of the 2024 presidential contest contains little mystery. South Carolina propelled President Joe Biden to the Democratic nomination four years ago and he faces only token opposition when voting concludes Saturday.
What’s at stake for Biden is the depth of support he receives from Black voters. They made up half the party’s primary electorate in the state in 2020 and gave him a resounding victory, a win he rewarded by moving South Carolina to the front of the party’s nominating process. In the general election, Biden was backed by 91% of Black voters nationwide, according to AP VoteCast.
Whether he enjoys a similar level of support this year has implications far beyond South Carolina.
Biden’s support among Black voters has waned considerably since he assembled his winning coalition four years ago. His approval rating among Black adults is 42% in the latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, a substantial drop from the first year of his presidency.
That’s a potentially troubling sign as he prepares for a rematch against former President Donald Trump, the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination. Lackluster turnout among Black voters in South Carolina’s primary could signal a broader dip in enthusiasm. Biden will need to energize Black voters in the key swing states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
His campaign is not taking the state for granted. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been visiting in the lead-up to the primary and have promised to keep advocating for the interests of the Black community.
Interviews with a wide array of Democratic-leaning Black voters in South Carolina ahead of Saturday’s primary revealed general support for the president, from early voting centers in Columbia, the state capital, to a historically Black college in Orangeburg to a voter-mobilization event in Charleston. But they also provided warning signs: Voters want Biden to spell out his priorities for a second term while expressing concerns about his age and how he is handling inflation and the economy.
GENERATIONAL DIVIDE
Younger Black voters said they want Biden to represent their concerns and to see them prioritized if he wins a second term.
Alexandrea B. Moore, a 22-year-old senior at South Carolina State University, said Biden could have been more transparent about the challenges he faced in fulfilling his promise of widespread student loan forgiveness, a plan that ultimately was struck down by the Supreme Court.
“If Biden wants to be able to regain the trust of the U.S. citizens, then there does need to be a little bit of transparency on why things didn’t go the way that they were promised to us,” she said.
Olivia Ratliff, a 19-year-old sophomore at the college, the state’s only public historically Black college or university, wants to hear Biden focus on education issues, primarily school safety and the teacher shortage.
South Carolina school districts reported over 1,600 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, a 9% increase from the year before, according to a report from the South Carolina Education Association.
“It’s bad enough we send our children to schools with no teachers, but then they also risk their lives every day going to school,” said Ratliff, an education major.
Kailyn Wrighten feels let down by Biden because she thinks his administration has been too quiet on social justice issues stemming from the protests against police violence in 2020. But seeing her mother’s student loan forgiven before Biden’s initial plan was struck down was a relief and something she considers a bright spot for the administration, so she plans to vote for Biden in the primary.
A 22-year-old senior at South Carolina State, Wrighten also expressed a frustration shared by most younger voters interviewed — that Biden decided to run for reelection rather than make way for a new generation of Democrats.
“This is something we’ve worked up to for 18 years and kind of finally being able to exercise this, and you’re like, ‘This is what I’m left with right now?’” she said.
STUDENT LOANS, ECONOMY
Biden’s faltering attempts to push a broad plan for student loan forgiveness and his handling of the economy came up repeatedly as top-of-mind issues in interviews with more than a dozen voters.
Sheridan Johnson cast an early vote for Biden in Columbia. She applauded the fact that his administration reduced some loans, but is hoping for more.
“I’m waiting for that to pass because I really need some student loans forgiven,” said Johnson, 53.
Biden’s initial plan was struck down by the Supreme Court. The administration then developed a repayment plan set to take effect this month. Under it, borrowers won’t see interest pile up as long as they make regular payments.
Inflation remains a major concern. While price hikes have cooled in recent months and the economy is growing, that has not had a significant trickle-down effect on Americans’ outlook or benefited Biden.
Laverne Brown, a 69-year-old retiree in Columbia, said Biden needs clear messaging to show voters what he has done to improve the economy and what more he would do if given a second term.
“As an American citizen, the message that would make me feel really good is knowing that there’s continued concern for the working people, the people that have really put in … years of working and now are living on a lower income,” she said.
She noted that some in the city don’t have access to grocery stores within a reasonable distance, which adds to their financial strains.
TOO OLD?
Age concerns came up frequently in the interviews, and not just among younger voters.
Polling has consistently shown a broad lack of excitement about the prospects for a Biden-Trump rematch. The age of the candidates — Biden is 81, and Trump 77 — is among the top concerns.
An August AP-NORC poll found that 77% of U.S. adults, including 63% of Black adults, said they believe Biden is too old to effectively serve another term as president.
“They’re as old as I am, and to have these two guys be the only choices, that’s kind of difficult,” said Charles Trower, a 77-year-old from Blythewood, South Carolina. “But I would much rather have President Biden than even consider the other guy.”
Trower, a veteran, said Biden has implemented changes that improved the quality of life for veterans.
Joshua Singleton, a 19-year-old sophomore at South Carolina State, shared the sentiment: “We should have, you know, younger presidents to represent us.”
VOTING RIGHTS, ABORTION, OVERDOSES
Some of the nation’s most divisive and personal issues — voting rights, abortion and the overdose epidemic — also were among the top talking points for many of the Black voters interviewed.
Several noted the failure of Democrats to pass voting rights legislation during the first two years of Biden’s presidency as a response to restrictive laws passed by several Republican-controlled states. Democrats’ slim majority in the Senate was not enough to overcome Republican procedural moves to prevent the legislation from moving forward.
“The ability to protect voting rights needs to be expanded,” said Seth Whipper, 74, a former Democratic state representative who was contacted last week by voting rights activists during a community canvassing event in Charleston. “Every state in the nation, every territory should be subject to the Voting Rights Act. It’s just that important.”
Biden and Harris have been focusing on the stakes for abortion rights in this year’s election, a message that appeared to resonate with voters. Several wanted to know what a second Biden administration plans to do to protect reproductive rights.
“I’m a strong believer in women’s rights. I have a wife. I have a daughter,” said Tony Thomas, who is 71 and cast his ballot at an early voting site in Columbia. “I believe they should have a right not to have the government interfere in their lives.”
Fentanyl, which along with other synthetic opioids is the leading culprit in an overdose crisis killing Americans at a record rate, concerns Saundra Trower, a 75-year-old from Blythewood, just outside the state capital.
She wants Biden to continue trying to fix it and figure out how fentanyl is flooding the country and why so many people are addicted.
“That’s the biggest thing for me,” she said. “There are too many young people and even middle-aged people who are dying from fentanyl.”
STICKING WITH BIDEN
The voters interviewed were among the most engaged Democrats in the state, taking advantage of early voting opportunities or helping to register and persuade others to get to the polls. Many said they generally supported Biden and would vote for him in the primary and November’s general election, driven by a sense that he was trying to address their concerns.
They pointed to strides he has made in diversifying the federal judiciary and government agencies, funneling more funding to historically Black colleges and universities, and taking steps to reduce unemployment.
Many also said they recognize that Biden can’t make everything happen on his own, given the divided power and deep polarization in Congress.
Austin Nichols, a 28-year-old lawyer in Columbia, said Biden is pushing the country in the right direction, particularly in addressing such things as racial discrimination in housing.
“One thing that I appreciate that directly impacts me are reforms and new rules into governing race discrimination when it comes to home property values and getting appraisals, and the inherent biases that are in there,” Nichols said.
In his view, Biden is a president “for the people, and not for self-interest.”
LaJoia Broughton, a 42-year-old small-business owner in Columbia, voted for Biden in 2020 and said she will do so again this year, citing reasons both local and national: his administration providing more opportunities for Black-owned businesses, and what she sees as a threat to the nation’s foundational governing principles under a second Trump presidency.
“We can’t live with a leader that will make this into a dictatorship. We can’t live in a place that is not a democracy. That will be a fall for America,” Broughton said. “So my vote is with Biden. It has been with Biden and will continue to be with Biden.”
But several of those interviewed also acknowledged that it could be difficult to motivate voters who don’t always show up the polls, especially those who have seen little change in their circumstances.
The Rev. Dr. Byron L. Benton, pastor of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, said that is particularly true for those who haven’t seen much improvement in their lives, no matter who was president.
Biden has had extensive outreach to the state in an effort to maintain his bond with its Black electorate. He recently spoke at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where in 2015 nine Black parishioners were gunned down by a white assailant they had invited to join their Bible study.
To Benton, it seems that Biden is connecting more directly with Black churches this time than even during his campaign four years ago.
“At the end of the day, whether you are excited or have no excitement, what I’m still hearing is based on what’s present,” he said. “The candidate that the majority of African Americans are going to vote for is still President Joseph Biden.”
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Emily Swanson, the Associated Press’ director of public opinion research, contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press’s coverage of race and voting receives support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
World
Aid is surging into Gaza under the ceasefire. Is it helping?
JERUSALEM (AP) — Two weeks after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect, aid is flooding into the Gaza Strip, bringing relief to a territory suffering from hunger, mass displacement and devastation following 15 months of war.
But Palestinians and aid workers say it’s still an uphill battle to ensure the assistance reaches everyone. And looming large is the possibility that fighting will resume if the ceasefire breaks down after the six-week first phase.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel said it would allow 600 aid trucks into Gaza each day, a major increase. Israel estimates that at least 4,200 trucks have entered each week since the ceasefire took hold.
Humanitarian groups say aid distribution is complicated by destroyed or damaged roads, Israeli inspections and the threat of unexploded bombs.
On Saturday, Samir Abu Holi, 68, watched over a food-distribution point in Jabaliya, an area in northern Gaza razed to the ground during multiple Israeli offensives, the most recent of which cut off nearly all aid for over a month.
“I have more than 10 children. All of them need milk and food. Before the ceasefire, we used to provide food with difficulty,” he said. “Today there is a little relief.”
Here’s a closer look at the aid situation.
A surge of aid
The main U.N. food agency, the World Food Program, said it dispersed more food to Palestinians in Gaza during the first four days of the ceasefire than it did, on average, during any month of the war. Over 32,000 metric tons of aid have entered Gaza since the ceasefire, the agency said last week.
Aid is now entering through two crossings in the north and one in the south. Aid agencies said they are opening bakeries and handing out high-energy biscuits, and Hamas police have returned to the streets to help restore order.
Before the ceasefire, aid organizations said delivery was complicated by armed gangs looting the trucks, attacks on aid workers, arduous Israeli inspections and difficulties coordinating with COGAT, the Israeli military body charged with facilitating aid. Israel blamed the U.N. and humanitarian organizations for failing to deliver aid once it reached Gaza.
There’s now the “political will to make everything else work,” said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli organization dedicated to protecting Palestinians’ right to move freely within Gaza.
“COGAT is fast-tracking responses to coordination requests. It’s allowing two crossings instead of one to operate in the north. The ceasefire is allowing Hamas forces to operate freely to stop looting … and the lack of hostilities allow aid agencies to move freely and safely,” Hary said.
Food prices are still a challenge
Nadine Jomaa, a young woman in Bureij in central Gaza, said the aid is not freely available, and she needs to buy goods in the market, where they are resold for inflated prices. Though prices are coming down, flour and cooking gas still cost roughly triple the amount they did before the war, according to the World Food Program.
Her family is eating only cheap canned goods. “We need more food, water, household items for the kitchen and bathroom and women’s items,” she said.
Although humanitarian officials have long said the best way to prevent extortion is to flood Gaza with aid, Palestinians in the north say that, so far, the influx appears to have only boosted shadowy middlemen. Residents complain that there are not nearly enough tents entering Gaza while non-essential items such as chocolate, nuts and soda are suddenly ubiquitous.
Ahmed Qamar, 34, who returned to live in the ruins of his former home in Jabaliya, said his area has seen just a few dozen aid trucks.
“Hundreds of families here are sleeping in the open and in the cold,” he said. “We need electricity and shelter, and meanwhile markets are flooded with chocolate and cigarettes.”
Though aid workers say the Israeli inspection process has accelerated, getting certain types of aid into Gaza is still challenging. Some items are deemed “dual-use,” barring them from Gaza because of concerns they could be diverted by militants for military purposes.
Some hospitals and desalination plants still have fuel shortages. And Hamas on Sunday accused Israeli officials of obstructing the delivery of medical supplies and reconstruction machinery.
According to a list circulated to humanitarian groups by COGAT and shared with The Associated Press, desalination and water-collection devices, storage units, tools, tent kits, ovens, water-resistant clothing and equipment for shelter construction teams all require “pre-approval” before entering Gaza. Large tents, sleeping bags, portable toilets, heating pads and vaccines are cleared to enter the strip without Israeli approval.
“While aid is getting in in higher numbers, we also know that those restrictions on essential items are persisting,” said Sophie Driscoll, head of communications for the International Rescue Committee in the Palestinian territories.
COGAT acknowledged keeping certain items on the dual-use list but said it is still permitting them into Gaza after screening. The agency said tents are not considered dual-use, and Israel has allowed tens of thousands into Gaza in recent weeks “without restriction.” It also said Israel has extended the hours crossings are open and allowed road repairs inside Gaza.
“Regarding the distribution of aid inside Gaza, Israel does not control the situation inside,” COGAT said.
Destroyed roads, unexploded ordnance
Roads have been heavily damaged by the war, and unexploded bombs litter the landscape. The U.N. estimates that 5% to 10% of all ammunition dropped in Gaza has failed to detonate, making the territory potentially perilous for civilians and aid workers.
UNMAS, the U.N. agency handling unexploded ordnance, said that since the ceasefire took hold, humanitarian convoys and civilians have reported finding large aircraft bombs, mortars and rifle grenades.
As they return home, many Palestinians are living in areas where the water network has been destroyed. That makes dehydration and the spread of disease due to poor sanitary conditions and limited medical care a threat.
Speaking from southern Gaza, Jonathan Crickx, chief of communications at UNICEF, recalled being on a road where “thousands and thousands of children and families were walking.”
“I was seeing them with nothing,” he said, “only the clothes they’re wearing on their back.”
World
Panama pledges to end key canal deal with China, work with US after Rubio visit
Panama’s president vowed Sunday to end a key development deal with China after meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and after complaints from President Donald Trump that the Latin American country had ceded control over its critical shipping canal to Beijing.
José Raúl Mulino, Panama’s president, said his nation’s sovereignty over the 51-mile waterway, which connects the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, will remain unchanged. But he said he would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s Belt and Road global development initiative and that Panama would instead look to work more closely with the U.S.
“I think this visit opens the door to build new relations … and try to increase as much as possible U.S. investments in Panama,” Mulino told reporters after meeting with Rubio on his first international trip since being confirmed.
Rubio, who was a senator representing Florida before Trump tapped him to be America’s top diplomat, said his team is ready to push the U.S. agenda.
‘TAKING IT BACK’: INTERNAL HOUSE GOP MEMO OUTLINES CASE FOR TRUMP TO Y PANAMA CANAL
“Had the pleasure of meeting the incredible @USEmbPAN team during my first embassy meet and greet in my new role as Secretary of State!” Rubio wrote in a post on X. “Thankful for their dedication and ongoing efforts to promoting President Trump’s vision of an America First foreign policy.”
During his visit, Rubio wrote in a post on X that “the United States cannot, and will not, allow the Chinese Communist Party to continue with its effective and growing control over the Panama Canal area.”
Trump has complained that China exerts control over the canal and charges U.S. ships six-figure premiums to cross Panama’s isthmus. The canal was built over several decades by the U.S. and completed in 1914 but handed over to Panama during the Carter administration.
Trump has made regaining ownership of the Panama Canal a priority in his administration. House Republicans introduced a bill for the United States to repurchase the Panama Canal after Trump raised concerns that the critical waterway is under Chinese control.
The bill, named the Panama Canal Repurchase Act, was introduced by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., a member of the Select Committee on China and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“President Trump is right to consider repurchasing the Panama Canal,” Johnson said in a statement. “China’s interest in and presence around the canal is a cause for concern. America must project strength abroad – owning and operating the Panama Canal might be an important step towards a stronger America and a more secure globe.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE BILL TO REPURCHASE PANAMA CANAL AFTER TRUMP RAISES CONCERNS OF CHINESE CONTROL
If it becomes law, the bill would give the president authority to act in coordination with the secretary of state to “initiate and conduct negotiations with appropriate counterparts of the Government of the Republic of Panama to reacquire the Panama Canal.”
CHINA’S INFLUENCE ON PANAMA CANAL POSES ‘ACUTE RISKS TO US NATIONAL SECURITY,’ SEN CRUZ WARNS
The U.S. Department of State estimates around 72% of all vessels that travel through the Panama Canal are coming from or going to a U.S. port.
Noting the canal’s strategic importance to the United States, Johnson’s office also noted how the waterway is a key transit point for U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Defense vessels.
Without access to the canal, ships would be forced to travel 8,000 additional miles around South America.
“More than 10,000 ships use the Panama Canal each year, generating billions of dollars of tolls which would economically benefit America,” Johnson’s office said.
While the canal and China’s role in the region topped the agenda, Rubio had other items to raise.
“We also discussed efforts to end the hemisphere’s mass migration crisis and ensure fair competition for U.S. firms,” Rubio added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
World
Germany's Scholz meets UK PM Keir Starmer on eve of Brussels summit
While ruling out rejoining the EU trade bloc five years after Brexit, Starmer said he wants to forge a closer relationship on defence, energy and trade.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at his country estate on Sunday, ahead of talks aimed at strengthening ties with the European Union.
Starmer hosted Scholz at Chequers, the prime minister’s official retreat in Buckinghamshire, about 50 kilometres northwest of London. Their meeting came ahead of a visit to Belgium on Monday, where they will meet with EU leaders as Starmer seeks a “reset” in the UK’s relationship with the bloc.
While ruling out rejoining the EU trade bloc five years after Brexit, Starmer emphasised his desire for closer cooperation on defence, energy, and trade.
“I think that is certainly in the U.K.’s best interest, I do believe it’s in the E.U.’s best interest, and already I hope that in the last seven months there’s been a manifest difference in approach, tone and relationship,” he said.
According to a spokesperson for Starmer, the two leaders also discussed Ukraine and the Middle East, with the prime minister highlighting their shared stance on key global challenges, including continued support for Kyiv as its war with Russia enters its fourth year.
Scholz described the meeting, which included a walk around the estate’s grounds and a working lunch, as a “good sign of the very good relations between our two countries, and indeed between the two of us.”
Video editor • Lucy Davalou
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