NBC’s Today co-host Craig Melvin must have taken a page out of his colleague Savannah Guthrie’s playbook as he grilled longtime House Democrat Jim Clyburn (SC) over his choice to remain enthusiastically behind President Biden as more continue to abandon him and demand he not seek reelection due to his cognitive decline.
The 11-minute-plus segment began with Melvin cutting to the chase about how Biden’s Thursday night press conference contained plenty of gaffes even though it “was supposed to have allayed concerns that a lot of folks have — many of them within your own party — about the President’s ability to do the job.”
Clyburn offered a pathetic defense of confusing Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy then Kamala Harris and Donald Trump by insisting this happens so much to the point it’s “almost natural for people who grew up stuttering, and they do focus a little more and, when you focus a little more, you tend to use — lose the flow.”
Melvin wasn’t having it: “But you’re not saying that what we’ve seen from this President over the last few weeks is just a function of him — him stuttering. I mean, it’s more than that.”
Clyburn doubled down: “Of course not. He doesn’t stutter now. He’s still working to overcome the stuttering of his childhood. I’ve been around that condition for a long time, and I know exactly how it — it operates, but he has one of the best minds that I’ve ever been around”.
Melvin still didn’t take the bait and instead cited what were then 17 congressional Democrats calling for Biden to end his reelection bid and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s meandering earlier in the week.
After Clyburn insisted the “conversation should” stop about whether Biden will leave and instead go to “the record of this administration” and preventing Project 2025 from “becom[ing] the law in any form”, Melvin hit back with a reality check about how will the campaign even work for Democrats if they’re constantly facing questions about Biden “remain[ing] viable”.
Clyburn scoffed, leaving Melvin incredulous (click “expand”):
MELVIN: But, Congressman, again, how — how is this a candidate — how is this candidacy or candidate that can remain viable? If you literally have a Democrat every day calling on him to drop out of the race, down ballot Democrats who are going to asking questions every day about the President’s mental acuity, how is that a — how is that a camp — campaign that can be successful?
CLYBURN: Well, Joe Biden is focused on the future of this country and I always say the best predictor of future performance is past behavior. Let’s continue to compare the past behavior of Joe Biden and to the past behavior of his opponent, Donald Trump, and let that be a guide to our reactions going forward. And I think, if we do that, we will give the American people exactly what they need to make their choice for our children and grandchildren.
MELVIN: You —
CLYBURN: That’s what this campaign is all about. It’s about whether or not we’re going to have —
MELVIN: — but you —
CLYBURN: —a viable democracy.
MELVIN: — but you recognize there are a lot of folks in this country, many of whom in your own party, who don’t think this is the same Joe Biden we saw four years ago. You’ve known him for decades.
CLYBURN: Yep.
MELVIN: You’re traveling with him next week. You’ve spent more time with the President than just about anybody else in the House. Is this the same Joe Biden that we saw two years ago?
CLYBURN: Well, look, I grew up —
MELVIN: Is it the same Joe Biden?
CLYBURN: — no. I’m not the same Jim Clyburn that I was four years ago, and given a few — what — ten more days —
MELVIN: You’ll be 84.
CLYBURN: — I’ll be 84 years old. That’s an anniversary of my 39th birthday. It’s not another birthday. It’s the anniversary of my 39th, but I’m a bit wiser than I was before. And I’m a bit wiser than I am on many fronts.
Melvin tried again: “But, congressman, you’ll also knowledge that the President we’ve seen over the last few months is not the man you endorsed four years ago. But in terms of mental acuity, in terms of his physical ability, is he still the same man?”
Clyburn replied that while he didn’t “think so” physically, Biden’s still entirely there mentally because he “still grasp[s] what this country is all about” and “what a democracy is all about”.
Melvin also touched on the topic of cognitive testing, but Clyburn batted that away with the insistence that would be none of our business.
Side-note: Doubt Clyburn would have that same take if Trump were to be reelected.
This marathon interview continued on with Melvin hitting the gas on Biden being purposefully closed off from the press by his staff and that more Americans could make up their mind on him if he was seen more often in “unscripted settings” (click “expand”):
MELVIN: He’s done fewer news conferences than any president — the — the last seven Presidents, fewer news conferences, fewer interviews like this. Do you think this White House has shielded him too much?
CLYBURN: Well, I don’t know what the magic number would be, but I do believe —
MELVIN: I — you can —
CLYBURN: — he’s pacing himself —
MELVIN: — you can acknowledge that he’s not been out there as much as some of his predecessors. Is that — has that been to his determinant?
CLYBURN: — well, I don’t know. I don’t know about that. I do know that all of us — you know, I have been asking him to do more town hall-style meetings because I think that he performs well when he interacts with people, and I think people feel better about him when they’re allowed interact with him. You know, I don’t want people to think that you’ve got to be going through the trials of a press conference. If you let the press look in on your interactions —
MELVIN: But, congressman, don’t you think this would help allay a lot of the concerns that people have in this country that the President’s not — just not up to the job if they saw and heard him in more unscripted settings on a more regular basis?
CLYBURN: — well, that may be true. I’m not saying that — that won’t be the case, but I’m saying that is not required in order to prosecute the case.
MELVIN: Last —
CLYBURN: Get among the people.
After a series of questions about whether he would have still endorsed Biden in 2020 knowing how things would pan out and if he’d back Vice President Harris were Biden to quit, Guthrie and Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker analyzed the interview.
They even tossed back to Clyburn when they wanted to make sure they understood him earlier in his support for Biden with the caveat that the Democratic National Convention isn’t for another month.
To see the relevant transcript from July 12, click here.
