NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — (AP) — Joe Biden spent his final full day as president Sunday in South Carolina, urging Americans to "keep the faith in a better day to come" and reflecting on the influence of both the civil rights movement and the state itself in his political trajectory.
On the eve of Monday's inauguration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, Biden delivered a final farewell from a state that holds special meaning after his commanding win in its 2020 Democratic primary set him up to achieve his life's goal of being elected president of the United States.
Biden spoke to the congregation of Royal Missionary Baptist Church about why he entered public service — Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were political heroes, he said. And in a nod to South Carolina Democrats, he said: “I owe you big.”
The day before the federal holiday honoring King, the slain civil rights leader, Biden struck a more hopeful tone for the future of the country than his televised farewell address last Wednesday, when he warned about an "oligarchy" of the ultrawealthy taking root and a "tech-industrial complex" impeding the future of democracy.
“We know the struggle to redeeming the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing," Biden said Sunday. “We must hold on to hope. We must stay engaged. We must always keep the faith in a better day to come."
He added: "I’m not going anywhere” — and the congregation applauded.
Before the service, as hostages started to be released under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that the U.S. helped broker, Biden said "the guns in Gaza have gone silent." He noted that in May he had outlined the agreement to halt the fighting.
“Now it falls on the next administration to help implement this deal. I was pleased to have our team speak as one voice in the final days,” Biden said, before offering some advice to Trump on maintaining the hard-won deal.
“Success is going to require persistence, and continuing support for our friends in the region and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence," Biden said.
But even as he played up the ceasefire, Biden was dogged by critics who oppose his administration for shipping arms to Israel and say it didn't push its ally hard enough to ease a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. As his motorcade moved through Charleston, a group chanted "Biden is a war criminal" and held a banner that said "Biden's legacy=genocide."
After Biden spoke on the ceasefire, he and first lady Jill Biden took their seats in the front pew at the church. At least several hundred congregants sang gospel songs, rising to their feet and swaying and clapping. A choir led the musical selections from behind the pulpit before the program later shifted to focus on King.
Biden was introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a key ally who referred to the president as his “longtime friend." Clyburn cited a number of presidents who were underappreciated in office but now looked on more fondly with the passage of time. He added Biden to that list.
“So I want to say to you, good friend, very little appreciation has been shown recently but faint not. History will be very kind to you,” Clyburn said.
The Bidens also will tour the International African American Museum in Charleston. It was built on a waterfront site where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans were brought to the U.S. from the late 1760s through 1808, according to the museum's website.
In 2020, Biden saw his campaign flounder after he lost the opening contests in New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada. But at the fourth stop, South Carolina — where Black voters make up a majority of the Democratic electorate — he was lifted to victory after Clyburn's endorsement.
“I know Joe. We know Joe. But most importantly, Joe knows us,” Clyburn said at the time.
After winning the election and taking office, Biden pushed for South Carolina to be the state that opened the Democratic Party's nominating process for 2024, instead of New Hampshire. He easily won the state's primary that year.
“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and set us on the path to winning the presidency,” Biden said in a statement after winning the primary for the second time. “Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have set us on the path to winning the Presidency again — and making Donald Trump a loser — again.”
It didn't turn out that way. After faltering in a debate against Trump, Biden dropped out of the race under pressure from many Democrats, though Clyburn notably was not among them.
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced him as the Democrats' nominee. She lost to Trump.
Clyburn said Biden told him he wanted to visit the African American history museum, which Clyburn helped start. They were planning to spend some time together there.
“This is his way of saying ‘thank you,’” Clyburn said.
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Santana reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that Clyburn said ‘history will be very kind to you,” rather than ‘very proud of you’