Biden Endorser Cunningham Tries to Abandon President, Refuses
Questions about Key Biden Initiatives

COLUMBIA, SC — Not too long ago, Joe Cunningham enthusiastically embraced an endorsement from Joe Biden, and Cunningham endorsed Biden for president.

But recently, while pandering to conservative voters in Darlington, Cunningham tried to run and hide from unpopular President Biden – and from voters, who want to know how he would handle governing the state as Biden and Democrats push policy down on South Carolina families from Washington.

Cunningham told The State, “It’s not my job to defend Joe Biden, and I’m not going to,” as the Democratic nominee for governor once again refused to answer questions about the Democratic Party’s signature Inflation Reduction Act.

“Cunningham did not take a stance on the federal legislation touted by the Biden Administration and Democrats in Washington,” according to The State.

“Joe Cunningham is not qualified to be governor because he has absolutely no understanding of what it takes to be governor,” said McMaster-Evette campaign manager Mark Knoop. “The job of governor requires the state’s chief executive to make tough decisions and fight for South Carolina, especially in the face of reckless and foolish federal policies, but Joe Cunningham continues to hide from voters or tell them precisely what he would do to protect them from Washington. It is as cynical as it is slick.”

In The State newspaper’s reporting, it points out that recent South Carolina governors have had to spend considerable time dealing with federal issues. For example, “in 2009, then-Gov. Mark Sanford refused to take $700 million in federal money…during former Gov. Nikki Haley’s term…she railed against the National Labor Relations Board for taking action against Boeing after it opened a plant in South Carolina and accused the company of union-busting.”

As Cunningham dodges questions, skeptics of the Biden policy weigh in: 

• “But one thing many analysts agree on is that the misnamed bill will likely have minimal impact on the inflation that’s eating away at American households and businesses.” (The Charleston Post and Courier, Editorial, 8/11/2022)
• “These new taxes will still deliver a blow to our industry’s ability to raise wages, hire workers and invest in our communities.” (Jay Timmons, President and CEO of the non-partisan National Association of Manufacturers, 8/6/2022)
• “This bill is a nightmare for South Carolina…The bottom line is that this bill raises taxes and creates new federal government programs at a time that we’re in a recession. The best way to get out of a recession is limit federal government spending and incentivize growth in the private sector.” (U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, 8/11/2022)

This is why it is unacceptable for a major party candidate for governor to get away with refusing legitimate policy questions.

“Once again, Joe Cunningham owes it to voters to come clean,” said Knoop. “They deserve to know whether he would fight back against the disastrous Biden Administration policies or whether he would roll over for Washington Democrats and turn South Carolina into another laboratory for failed liberal policy.”

Governors from across the country wrote to President Biden on Monday regarding his college loan forgiveness plan. In the letter, signed by 22 of the nation’s governors including Gov. Henry McMaster and distributed by the Republican Governors Association, they said, “Only 16-17 percent of Americans have federal student loan debt, and yet, your plan will require their debts be redistributed and paid by the vast majority of taxpayers. Shifting the burden of debt from the wealthy to working Americans has a regressive impact that harms lower income families.”