Clyburn hits back at reports he worked with GOP to gerrymander S.C. district: 'Absolutely not true'
ProPublica alleged in 2023 that Clyburn worked with the GOP on a map that safeguarded his standing in his own district
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., hit back at a 2023 report that alleged he worked with Republicans to maintain a "grip" on his South Carolina district by making sure "30,000 Black voters" would be redrawn into his district for the 2024 elections, which he said was "absolutely not true."
"ProPublica has a report that you actually worked with Republicans on this map to maintain a tighter grip on your own district by ensuring that 30,000 Black voters would move from a neighboring swing district into your own. Was that the case?" NBC News host Kristen Welker asked Clyburn.
"No that is not the case at all," Clyburn said. "When someone picks up the phone and asks you, ‘what are your suggestions as we are about to get these lines drawn,' I offered my suggestions," he said. "And I certainly didn't ask my district to be turned into a minority district, and that's what it is. People keep publishing that I have a majority minority district, that is absolutely not true, check the numbers."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A federal court in South Carolina ruled on Thursday that this year's congressional elections in South Carolina will be held under a map that it had already deemed unconstitutional and discriminatory against Black voters, with time running out ahead of voting deadlines and a lack of a decision on the case by the Supreme Court.
Rep. James Clyburn joined "Meet the Press" on Sunday, March 31, 2024.
A panel of three federal judges from South Carolina wrote that "with the primary election procedures rapidly approaching, the appeal before the Supreme Court still pending, and no remedial plan in place, the ideal must bend to the practical."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The case hinges on South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, currently held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. Last year, the same 3-judge panel ordered South Carolina to redraw the district, which runs from Charleston to Hilton Head Island, after finding that the state used race as a proxy for partisan affiliation in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Clyburn said people were misrepresenting what happened and that it had been going on for years.
"Yes, I offered my suggestions. Did they follow my suggestions? Absolutely not, and so when you say you spoke to me, and that there's an agreement, that is absolutely not true," he continued, adding that the reporter was trying to make a "headline" rather than "headway" on the story.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., is 82 years old. He has served as a South Carolina representative since 1993. (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
ProPublica alleged in 2023 that Clyburn sent an aide, Dalton Tresvant, to meet with state Republicans about the new congressional map. The report claimed Clyburn's suggested map would benefit his standing within his own district and Republicans in a neighboring district.
"Some of Tresvant’s proposals appealed to Republicans. The sketch added Black voters to Clyburn’s district while moving out some predominantly White precincts that leaned toward the GOP. The Republicans kept Tresvant’s map confidential as they worked through the redistricting process for the following two months," ProPublica reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to ProPublica, a spokesperson previously confirmed that they "engaged in discussions regarding the boundaries of the 6th Congressional District."
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., listens to DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, of South Carolina, nominee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, testify during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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After South Carolina's Legislature, which Republicans lead, redrew the district, civil rights groups swiftly filed a lawsuit, charging state lawmakers with choosing "perhaps the worst option of the available maps" for Black voters, arguing they had removed Black voters and made it a safer seat for Republicans.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last year, a 3-judge panel — the same that issued Thursday's order — concluded that South Carolina’s legislature "exiled" 30,000 Democratic-leaning Black voters from the 1st District to help safeguard Mace. The state appealed that ruling, and the Supreme Court heard arguments in October but has yet to issue a decision.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.