COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Joe Biden spent Sunday morning at a historic church in Columbia, telling parishioners about his faith and the ideals of America.
Biden spoke at St. John Baptist Church off West Beltline, a majority African-American church that played an active role in the Civil Rights Movement. It's also the church where former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin--now a senior advisor in the Biden Administration--attends and is where WNBA Star A'ja Wilson's grandfather was once pastor.
Biden spoke about his faith and how much it's meant to his life. He also talked about how he feels the country's ideals must be defended.
"We're the only country that was formed not based on ethnicity, based on geography, but based on an idea," Biden said. "An idea we've never lived up to but never walked away from that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal..."
Biden spent Saturday night and Sunday morning in Columbia, a rare overnight stay for the president outside his usual vacation spot near Kiawah Island.
Saturday night, Biden spoke at a Democratic dinner getting ready for next week's presidential primary in the state. Biden is facing two challengers--Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and Marianne Williamson--but is not expecting a serious challenge.
But Biden was also looking to shore up support among Black voters, a key part of the Democratic base and a critical block for his reelection efforts.
Last year, at the outset of Biden's reelection bid, conflicting views among the same South Carolina Democratic voters whose support had been so crucial to his nomination provided an early warning sign of the challenges he faces as he tries to revive his diverse winning coalition from 2020.
Overall, just 50% of Black adults said they approved of Biden in a December poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. That is compared with 86% in July 2021, a shift generating concern about the president's reelection prospects.
APVoteCast, an extensive national survey of the electorate, also found that support for Republican candidates ticked up slightly among Black voters during the 2022 midterm elections, although Black voters overwhelmingly supported Democrats.
The Biden campaign is running TV ads in South Carolina highlighting Biden initiatives that it hopes will boost enthusiasm among Black voters.