| | | | |  | | By Brakkton Booker | With help from Ella Creamer, Marissa Martinez, Jesse Naranjo, Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz
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President Joe Biden speaks with the owners of Hannibal's Kitchen during his visit Monday to Charleston, S.C. | POLITICO illustration/Photo by AP | What up, Recast fam! Hard-line House Republican Matt Rosendale is expected to introduce legislation to impeach Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday. Plus, Senate negotiators cool on the optimism that a bipartisan border and immigration framework will be unveiled this week citing “too many unresolved parts.” First, though, we focus on the president’s push to shore up a key constituency: Black voters. President Joe Biden, attempting to build back what many polls have indicated is eroding support among Black voters, spoke from the pulpit of a historic African Methodist Episcopal church on Monday. He warned of the spread of white supremacy, something he referred to as “a poison that’s for too long haunted this nation.” It’s part of his larger strategy to connect not-so-distant history to what’s at stake for the country in this year’s elections, casting himself as a defender of democracy while painting GOP frontrunner Donald Trump as an existential threat to it. “He’s a loser,” Biden said of Trump. Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the oldest AME church in the South, occupies a unique place in modern American history. “Mother Emanuel” was the site of a bloody rampage when a white gunman opened fire on a Bible study in 2015, killing nine members. It’s also where the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, led the congregation in a stirring, if slightly off-key, rendition of “Amazing Grace” during a eulogy for Clementa Pinckney, the pastor and state senator who was among those killed in the rampage. If Biden was hoping for a similarly iconic moment, that didn’t come to pass.
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If you’re just skimming the headlines, the biggest takeaway from his high stakes appearance is that he was briefly interrupted by protestors calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The three protesters the cameras captured were swiftly escorted out and their shouts of “cease-fire now” were drowned out by chants of “four more years.”
|  Biden delivers remarks Monday at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. | Mic Smith/AP | Biden did tout his administration's accomplishments, including enacting measures that cut Black childhood poverty in half, appointing more Black women to federal circuit courts than at any point in history, getting Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, confirmed and establishing a national monument to honor Mamie and Emmett Till, just to name a few. Black liberals anxious for Biden to lean in more with a direct message tailored to Black voters were pleased by the speech, but also tell The Recast that much more needs to be done. It also comes as some polls show Biden is losing support among Black voters, who have long served as the most loyal voting bloc for the party. “He did what he's supposed to do. I expect it to get better,” says Bakari Sellers, a former South Carolina state representative and Democratic strategist, while acknowledging that the lack of enthusiasm among Black voters for Biden’s reelection is “palpable.” Still, Sellers says, the way Biden wrapped his remarks hit the right notes: He quoted from a famous song by gospel great James Cleveland, “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.” “And as the gospel song sings,” Biden said, “We’ve come too far from where we started. Nobody told me the road would be easy.” “I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me,” Biden said, to an enthusiastic round of applause.
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| | Biden’s speech, Sellers says, “will motivate us to get out of our house and go do the work necessary” to energize Black voters. Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist in South Carolina who was at Mother Emanuel for Biden’s remarks, says the speech helped reassure some Black supporters who are beginning to question if they benefited at all from sending him to the White House. “This speech … is more personal to our community,” Seawright says. “And people measure enthusiasm in different ways. I measure the speech as, he is taking the message directly to us and for us.” Not everyone was as moved. “I think that that was clearly a pitch-perfect conversation for the constituency that was in that church,” says Alicia Garza, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter who now heads Black Futures Lab, which focuses on Black voter engagement. “Even if he didn't make that speech, those folks are gonna go and they're gonna vote for him,” Garza says. “The challenge that we're facing this year is that there are a lot of people who are asking themselves, ‘Why should I show up?’” She adds that Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict is increasingly becoming a flashpoint of his presidency and a concern among young Black voters. So his response to protesters that he is “quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza” will likely not be enough to assuage some Black voters looking at Biden’s reelection with skepticism. | | 
The president takes a selfie with diners during his Monday visit to Charleston. | Stephanie Scarbrough/AP | Still, others like Adrianne Shropshire said she was impressed by the strong case that both Biden and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who gave a rousing introduction of the president at the event, made to the attendees at the church. One of the items she highlighted was their talking up of the elimination of $132 billion in student debt, something she says is important to younger Black voters. But she was struck by the fact that there were no big takeaways from the speech on what to do next. “I was surprised there was no call to action around the primary that’s a month away,” says Shropshire, the executive director of BlackPAC, a progressive organization that develops and maintains voter engagement programs, “especially given the narrative that will emerge if turnout isn’t robust.” South Carolina’s Democratic primary is Feb. 3, and it’s the first early state Democrats will vote in during the 2024 cycle. Biden is expected to win the South Carolina primary rather easily, but whether he’ll garner nearly two-thirds of the Black turnout like he did four years ago remains an open question. We’ll keep tabs on this to see if Biden’s broader efforts to woo Black voters is working. All the best,
The Recast Team
| | | DEMOCRATS’ P.O.W.E.R. INITIATIVE
|  Democratic New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez is among the vulnerable Democrats the DCCC seeks to defend. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced a $35 million investment today, meant to boost vulnerable House members who have districts with large populations of voters of color. This includes defending names such as Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), while trying to unseat Republicans like California’s David Valadao and Michelle Steel. POLITICO’s Marissa Martinez breaks down what it means. The P.O.W.E.R. initiative, an acronym that stands for “Persuade. Organize. Welcome. Educate. Reach.,” is a continuation of previous reelection strategies, including research and polling, advertising, organizing and voter education. They’ll also feature content in multiple languages, including Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese. This year’s funding also goes beyond the $30 million invested during the 2022 midterms, including a Spanish-focused “Juntos Together” program. “We know that voters of color are critical to Democrats’ coalition and the DCCC’s investments highlight our commitment to continuously engaging with communities of color on issues they care about,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in a statement. But whether this latest push could move the needle remains to be seen: People of color have expressed less enthusiasm for voting this year than in previous cycles, and approval ratings for Biden have dropped across the board. And Democrats have some cause for concern on the House side. During the 2022 midterms, voters of color did shift to the right — though not at the rates many Republicans predicted — but also made up key margins for Democrats in several congressional races, particularly in Nevada and Arizona. Republicans are still trying to figure out how to approach communities of color as well after spending millions on voter turnout centers last midterm cycle. During this presidential cycle, which usually drives up voter participation, many Democrats will similarly have to turn out Hispanic and Black voters to increase their margins.
| | | ICYMI @ POLITICO
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is under scrutiny for the late disclosure of his hospitalization. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP | Austin’s Hospital Scandal — The Pentagon chief’s disclosure that he’d been hospitalized for days without notifying the White House or Congress is coming under scrutiny. POLITICO has full coverage as lawmakers seek answers. Get caught up with a handy timeline of events here and learn why POTUS won’t accept Austin’s resignation, even if asked. Countdown to Iowa Caucuses — Iowa’s Republican caucuses are in less than a week, providing former President Donald Trump’s first test of whether his gargantuan lead in public polls will hold. POLITICO’s Madison Fernandez breaks down what’s at stake and what to watch for with six of POLITICO’s campaign reporters. From Jan. 6 Hero to Congress? — Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who took center stage during his emotional testimony recounting his experiences protecting lawmakers during the Capitol riot, is now seeking a U.S. House seat in Maryland, reports POLITICO’s Kierra Frazier.
| | | THE RECAST RECOMMENDS “It was a hell of a round, Tiger,” was the message posted on Nike's Instagram, signaling the end of a nearly 30-year partnership with golfing great Tiger Woods. More from The Athletic about what this means for the brand and the GOAT. Michelle Yeoh, Justin Chien and Sam Song Li star in “The Brothers Sun,” an action-packed comedy drama series about a family with secrets — and intimate ties to organized crime. It’s streaming on Netflix now. | 
| Alaqua Cox stars in “Echo,” a five-episode Marvel series centering deaf, Native American superhero Maya Lopez, streaming this week on Disney+ and Hulu. “My Friends,” a new novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar, tells the story of Khaled, who leaves Libya for Britain and becomes injured in an anti-Qaddafi protest. A gladiatorial sword duel kicks off Burna Boy’s music video for “Giza”. Over 100 works of art by Black artists owned by Alicia Keys and her husband Swizz Beatz will be displayed at the Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall from next month until July. Their collection features captivating landscape paintings by the late, great Barkley L. Hendricks and a huge tire sculpture by artist/cinematographer Arthur Jafa. K-pop girl group ITZY dances under spotlights and causes an explosion in “Untouchable.” | 
| TikTok of the Week: Superiority complex
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