Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) disputed House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) on Monday after he contended a day earlier that some of his constituents are having trouble supporting a presidential candidate who is gay.
During a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of Union,” Clyburn was asked whether South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s struggle to gain traction with African-American voters in South Carolina has anything to do with his sexuality.
“Yes, it is. There’s no question about that,” the South Carolina lawmaker responded. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you otherwise because I think everybody knows that’s an issue. But I’m saying, it’s an issue not the way it used to be.”
“I’m never going to buy into that trope and I think it’s a trope that’s evolved among some Democrats to suggest that African Americans are homophobic or that there’s transphobia in the black community as a community — that’s just nonsense,” Harris replied. “I’m not saying that about Representative Clyburn, who I respect a lot. I’m talking about a trope that has developed among some. And the reality is that sadly, and unfortunately, in all communities bias occurs and in particular homophobia and transphobia.”
“To label one community in particular as being burdened by this bias as compared to others is misinformed,” she continued. “It’s misdirected and it’s just simply wrong.”
Buttigieg has been gaining momentum nationally, but still failing to gain traction with African American voters, which is most evident by his low polling numbers throughout South Carolina. In the most recent poll coming out of the Palmetto State, Buttigieg received only 3% support, putting him in sixth place behind lower tier candidates like Harris and financier Tom Steyer.
Harris’ remarks come as she has been suggesting that the ability for Americans to elect her as president of the United States may ultimately be hindered by her race and her gender, not her politics or personality. Only a week earlier, the California lawmaker put forth that the “elephant in the room about her campaign” is her electability, which she argued “is America ready for a woman, and a woman of color, to be president of the United States?”
However, polling has not shown neither race nor her gender to be a significant factor in Democrats’ electability during the 2020 election.
Harris’ campaign, which has been described recently as hemorrhaging cash, has been dramatically restructuring its staff nationwide, including both layoffs as well as redeployments. It has not only been struggling to gain momentum, but it has been noticeably slipping in the polls.
After months of stagnant fundraising and steadily declining poll numbers, she slid from the frontrunner in her home state of California to not even placing as one of the top three candidates that Californians prefer. Her campaign has also pivoted to focus on winning Iowa, yet slipped into sixth place in the latest poll coming out of the Hawkeye state.
As of publication, Harris sits at just under 5% support among Democratic primary voters nationwide, according to the RealClearPolitics national polling average. She has not hit double digits in the polls since August 2019.