Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) dismissed concerns about widespread voter fraud during an appearance Friday on MS NOW’s “The Weeknight,” telling viewers that the available evidence does not support claims of a systemic problem in American elections.
“There is no voter fraud to any significant degree taking place in this country,” Clyburn said, according to a clip flagged by Breitbart News.
The comment came as the South Carolina Democrat responded to a segment earlier in the program about the number of fraudulent votes that have been documented nationwide. Clyburn pointed to the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that maintains a widely cited database of election fraud cases, and argued that its own figures undercut the case for sweeping fraud.
“You all had the discussion earlier about the number of votes that have been found to be fraudulent, but a hundred votes in 40 some odd years, all coming from the Heritage Foundation,” he said. “There is no voter fraud to any significant degree taking place in this country.”
A broader argument about November
Clyburn’s remarks were not limited to election administration. Much of his appearance focused on his read of the political environment heading into the midterms, and he described a landscape shifting toward Democrats in states across the South.
“You can feel it. I’ve been hearing it,” Clyburn said. “And I see some of the national groups are moving this district or the state a little bit more toward the Democrats.”
He pointed specifically to South Carolina’s Senate race, describing the contest as having moved from likely Republican to leaning Republican β a subtle but meaningful tightening in his telling. He also singled out the Democratic candidate in the state’s first congressional district, saying that contender “is running very strong, and I think is going to win.”
Beyond individual races, Clyburn predicted Democratic victories in state legislative seats that the party has never held.
“I do believe that we are going to win statewide, as well as in legislative seats where we’ve never won before,” he said. “So I think you’re in a good place in South Carolina.”
Clyburn said the same energy was evident outside his home state. He told the program he had been in Texas roughly ten days earlier and came away with a similar impression, and that he was scheduled to travel to North Carolina the following day.
“I was down in Texas ten days ago and the same feeling there, and I’m on my way to North Carolina tomorrow, and I think that we are doing better there,” he said.
A long-running dispute
The exchange touches on a debate that has played out in courts, state legislatures, and Congress since the 2020 election. The Heritage Foundation’s election fraud database has been a frequent reference point for Republicans arguing that fraud is real and requires stricter voting laws. Democrats and voting rights groups have countered that the number of documented cases is vanishingly small relative to the hundreds of millions of ballots cast in federal elections, and that the cases cited often involve isolated incidents rather than organized schemes.
Clyburn, a civil rights veteran and one of the longest-serving Democrats in the House, has weighed in on voting access repeatedly over his career. His characterization of the fraud data on Friday echoed arguments Democrats have made in opposition to tighter identification requirements and other election law changes advanced in Republican-led states.
The congressman’s comments about the political map also reflect the broader strategy his party has leaned on this cycle: competing aggressively in Southern states that have trended Republican in recent national elections. Whether that optimism translates into wins in South Carolina, Texas, and North Carolina will be settled at the ballot box.
For now, Clyburn’s message to viewers was twofold β that the fraud question has been overstated, and that Democrats are positioned to outperform expectations across a region where they have struggled.
Source: www.breitbart.com β https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/25/clyburn-there-is-no-voter-fraud-to-any-significant-degree-taking-place-in-this-country/