After Biden’s shot, Steyer in rural SC says prison investments were a ‘mistake’
Hours after Vice President Joe Biden criticized Tom Steyer’s investments in private prisons while he was running a hedge fund he founded, Steyer, a California billionaire now polling in third in the state’s Democratic presidential contest, told reporters the investments were a “mistake.”
Steyer, whose campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination has been surprisingly competitive in South Carolina, was speaking to a mostly African American crowd in a rural, high-poverty area of the Palmetto State. Speaking to a crowd of about 150 people, Steyer also said he would come back to South Carolina after Saturday’s primary.
However, what that looks like for the man, who has gained support after sizable investments in staffing and advertising in the state, still needs to be determined.
“I’m not walking away from South Carolina after the primary because now I’ve gotten what I want from the people of South Carolina. There is something else going on,” Steyer said speaking of economic and racial injustice in the state. “I’m not going to walk away... Is the best answer going to be political organizing? It might be. That’s one of things that could definitely be a good idea.”
Steyer campaigned in Hampton and Yemassee on Sunday, kicking off a full week in the state before Saturday’s primary.
Steyer celebrated that he had qualified for the debate stage on Tuesday with the release of a CBS poll that put his support at 18% in South Carolina, trailing Biden who had 28% support and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders who had 23% support in the poll. Steyer went on to say if he gets 25% of the vote on Saturday, he would win the primary.
During the Yemassee stop, he spoke about how water unsafe to drink and air unsafe to breathe is usually in “black and brown communities.” His traditional lines of investing in historically black colleges and universities and backing racial reparations drew applause from the audience.
Steyer also responded to a criticism from Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday about Steyer’s previous investment in private prisons. Steyer’s hedge fund sold its stock in prisons after it was worth $90 million.
“I’ve since worked to get rid of private prisons in California, and we’ve succeeded in making sure they could never be hired either for incarceration or detention,” Steyer told reporters. “Was it a mistake? Yes. At the time it was very new, and I thought they could provide better service, and I decided it’s not something anyone should make money from and I sold it 15 years ago.”
According to a recent Winthrop Poll out Thursday, nearly one in five S.C. Democratic voters remain undecided on which candidate will win their vote on Saturday, which could lead to a surprising outcome.
Margie Fennell, 78, of Yemassee, said she’s undecided but is leaning toward voting for Steyer, with the possibility of voting for Biden.
“(Steyer’s) saying he’s going to get a lot of things we need done,” Fennell said. “And I’m hoping once he gets in, he’s going to be able to do what he says, because we need a lot of improvement.”
Fennell’s main concern in this election is low wages and the economy, she said.
“Everything is going up and the wages are the same and people can hardly make it like that,” Fennell said.
Perry Dukes, 67, of Beaufort, said he is leaning toward voting for Steyer but has yet to decide. He said he would vote in November for whoever is the Democratic presidential nominee, but he is worried about the top of the ticket and how it could affect down ballot candidates.
“I do think it’s going to be hard for the Democratic candidate to get people fired up,” Dukes said. “Unfortunately I’m afraid in South Carolina it doesn’t matter. In November the state’s going to go Republican, but I’ll do my part. I’ll vote anyway.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 9:08 PM with the headline "After Biden’s shot, Steyer in rural SC says prison investments were a ‘mistake’."
