Prompted by Vice President Mike Pence’s fundraising visit to Anderson County for Congressman Jeff Duncan’s Faith and Freedom BBQ Monday, South Carolina Democrats, including representatives from the Biden, Warren, Harris, and Booker presidential campaigns, came together at Welfare Baptist Church in Belton in a show of unity against the hateful and divisive rhetoric coming out of the White House.
“While we may support different candidates, we all agree that whoever the nominee is, we need to unite behind them to make Donald Trump a one-term president,” said Paige Hill, South Carolina Communications Director, Biden for President. “Tonight was about Democrats, no matter who they support, coming together to show Mike Pence and the Trump Administration that hate has no place in Anderson County or South Carolina.”
Welfare Baptist’s Senior Pastor, Ankoma Anderson, welcomed the crowd to the church before turning the microphone over to Lorretta Holloway, South Carolina’s “First Office Lady of Song,” who led the crowd in a rendition of God Bless America.
Pastor Anderson then gave lively remarks invoking the founding fathers’ words from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Pastor, urged the assembled crowd to embrace the meaning of the founders’ words and the historic importance of voting. He implored the crowd to vote and reminded them that each one of their voices does count – and that complacency is how we ended up with the current president.
Pastor Anderson concluded his remarks by encouraging the crowd to “dump Trump.”
Following the Pastor, representatives from the Warren, Booker, Harris and Biden campaigns made pitches for their respective candidates.
The event was concluded with remarks from Anderson County Councilwoman Gracie Floyd, who called on the crowd to mobilize their neighbors in the effort to “dump Trump.”
