Politics

Clyburn Says MAGA Told Him ‘Slavery Was a Good Thing,’

Congressman James Clyburn says some MAGA supporters openly praised slavery and warned of efforts to revive Jim Crow-era policies, raising alarms about the future of civil rights in America.
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By Aisha Winfrey
Los Angeles WAVE
Wire Report
WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, one of America’s most influential Black political leaders, says that some MAGA Republicans told him directly that slavery was a good thing, according to a clip from a political news show that’s gaining renewed attention online.

The South Carolina congressman also warned that some Make America Great Again loyalists would bring back Jim Crow-style systems in the U.S., if given the chance, according to the news clip.

Clyburn made the comments during an interview on PBS’s “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover.” According to Atlanta Black Star, a clip from the show that’s garnered recent attention online shows Clyburn detailing interactions he’s had with MAGA loyalists, some of whom want the country to return to a segregated state.

When asked whether he thought MAGA Republicans were explicitly racist, Clyburn said he doesn’t liberally apply the term to the entire group.

“I’m very circumspect about using the term. There are racists,” Clyburn said. “There are White Supremacists. There are people who are supporters of this president who admit to me that they are White Supremacists. I’ve had people who support this president tell me that they thought slavery was a good thing.”

Clyburn said he believes the MAGA Republicans “wish to get us back as close to slavery as they can possibly get us” without violating the Constitution and would attempt to reinstitute Jim Crow-like “separate but equal” policies with the help of the Supreme Court.

“Anything that’s happened before can happen again,” Clyburn said. “All it takes is a rogue Supreme Court.”

In the same discussion, Clyburn spoke about his book “The First Eight,” which looks at South Carolina’s first Black members of Congress after the Civil War and how they shaped political progress.

Clyburn wrote the book following the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, which he believes was inspired by the Antebellum era and came to pass as a result of reactionary politics.