President Biden hosted the University of South Carolina women's basketball team at the White House on Tuesday and joked that he's not actually the boss when it comes to one particular member of Congress.
“My name is Joe Biden, I work for Jim Clyburn,” he said to laughter from the room, “Welcome, everyone. Welcome to the White House. National champions, University of South Carolina.”
The basketball team was honored at the White House after winning the 2023-2024 national championship last spring. Later the same day, President Biden hosted the national champion University of Connecticut men's basketball team.
Clyburn is one of the president's top allies in Congress and is widely considered an architect of Biden's South Carolina primary victory that secured him the presidential nomination in 2020. Just when Biden's 2020 presidential run seemed all but over, Clyburn endorsed him, which ultimately helped propel him to the nomination.
Biden awarded Clyburn the Medal of Freedom in May, acknowledging that Clyburn's support was instrumental in helping him become president.
“Without Jim, I wouldn't be standing here as president presenting this award,” Biden said. “Jim is the best. Thank you.”
Clyburn declared himself a “Biden-Harris” in June, when Biden was deciding his political future after his disastrous debate performance. He added at the time that “out of Biden, I'd support Harris.”
Clyburn endorsed Harris soon after Biden dropped out of the race in July.
