Headway Over Headlines: Congressman James Clyburn Discusses Democrats’ Weaknesses in ‘Branding’

Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Assistant Democratic Leader and House Majority Whip, encouraged his party to reevaluate its public image and ideological coherence during a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Harvard Institute of Politics on Monday evening.

The conversation, moderated by former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, focused on the struggles and missteps of the Democratic Party in the aftermath of the 2024 election. Throughout the discussion, Clyburn spoke about how the party’s greatest challenge may not be policy, but perception.

“The party is suffering from branding,” he said. “And the question is, did we brand ourselves?”

To Clyburn, the answer is no. He suggested Democrats have lost control of their political narrative, allowing the media to define them through the rhetoric of their opponents.

“The media brands us according to the articulations of the Republicans, which is an insult to the Democrat Party,” he said. “Just listen and you see — they are doing the branding.”

“The Republican party doesn’t have to do it because Fox News is out there doing it for them. We don’t have Fox News,” Clyburn said. “If we did, I don’t know what kind of climate we would be creating, if that’s all we do is go out there and just lie”.

Clyburn contrasted the two parties’ political strategies as a matter of headlines versus headway, in which Republicans attract publicity through reasons often grounded in hatred.

“The Democratic Party does not sell well. Hate sells,” he said. “It’s hard to get a Democrat to say something hateful.”

“You cannot become a good Democratic nominee by being Republican-like. You got to go all in and be who you are.”

Clyburn claims Democrats’ aversion to “hateful” rhetoric renders their messaging ineffective, and they need to redirect their focus to making policy progress.

“If you want to make headway, you might ought to think about giving up some headlines.”

The event came amid rising tensions between higher education institutions and the federal government. The Trump administration recently froze over $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University following the institution’s refusal to comply with specific policy demands, including those related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs — initiatives championed by Democratic lawmakers.

In addressing Harvard’s refusal to comply with the administration’s list of demands, Clyburn expressed a broader concern for the nation.

“If Harvard had capitulated, I really fear for what next year would be,” he said.

Clyburn began the forum by alluding to how his personal life growing up informed his political and moral opinions. Apart from his exposure to racial injustice through segregation in the 1950s, Clyburn received significant spiritual influence from his father, a fundamentalist Christian minister.

“No matter what your homework was for the day, when you finished your homework, we had to share with him a Bible verse.”

Clyburn, who has long cited his Christian faith as his moral compass, tied the party’s messaging failures to deeper questions of morality in public life.

“What happens in this country over the next year will pretty much tell us what the morality will be going forward,” he said. “I’m hopeful, and I’m a pretty optimistic person. But I’m fearful. I just have to admit that I’m fearful.”