Jim Clyburn Endorsed Cuomo. The Internet Lost It.

When Black voters make choices the far left doesn’t like, the response says more about them than it does about us.

The moment Rep. Jim Clyburn, arguably the most influential Black Democrat in the country, endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor, the internet lit up with outrage. Activists, Twitter personalities, and progressive influencers rushed to condemn the endorsement. To them, it wasn’t just political disagreement. It was betrayal.

But here’s the thing. Most of them are never talking to the people who actually make up the Democratic base, and especially not the Black voters who’ve carried the party for decades.

Let’s look at the facts. Cuomo is currently leading with over 50% of Black voters in New York City. In contrast, Zohran Mamdani, the progressive favorite of the far left, commands just 6% support among college-educated voters of color over 35. His support is concentrated among the overwhelmingly young, college-educated, and mostly white progressive base, not the communities he claims to center.

Clyburn’s endorsement didn’t come out of nowhere. It reflects the same coalition that helped elect Joe Biden, one built on pragmatism, experience, and a focus on results. It’s not about rejecting progressive ideas. It’s about rejecting the tendency to speak over people who actually live the day-to-day realities of working-class Black and brown communities.

That matters. There’s a growing sense among longtime Democratic voters that their voices are being drowned out by a new kind of leftist orthodoxy. One that prioritizes ideology over results, social media clout over community trust, and optics over substance. When Clyburn speaks, he’s not just endorsing a candidate. He’s giving voice to a frustration that a lot of Black voters feel — being told what they should want by people who rarely ask.

The backlash to Clyburn’s endorsement is part of a larger problem. It’s not just about disagreement with Black political leaders. It’s the assumption that they are wrong because they aren’t radical enough, that they’ve sold out, or that their approach lacks moral clarity. That kind of judgment isn’t earned. It’s based on a belief that purity of ideology matters more than lived experience or real-world outcomes.

This is what we talked about in the last piece. There’s a growing belief on the far left that they know what’s best for communities they don’t organize in, don’t live in, and don’t really listen to. Whether it’s white progressives or insulated socialists, the pattern is the same. Call yourself a champion of the working class, then dismiss the actual working class when they don’t go along with your script.

And this isn’t just about Clyburn. The backlash shows a refusal to deal with political reality. The idea that respected Black leaders like Clyburn are somehow out of touch or no longer relevant is offensive. It erases their experience, ignores the complexity of what different communities need, and replaces all of that with a vision shaped by people who don’t do the work on the ground.

Clyburn’s endorsement is not about rejecting justice. It’s about rejecting political theater. He’s backing someone who, despite flaws, has a real track record of getting things done. Cuomo’s past isn’t spotless, but the left’s habit of pushing away the very communities they say they care about isn’t either. You don’t build a multiracial working-class coalition by silencing the people who’ve been organizing for decades.

The reaction to Clyburn’s move tells us more about online progressives than it does about Black voters. It shows how often posturing replaces listening. How outrage is used instead of organizing. How the loudest people in the room sometimes care more about winning arguments than building power.

If Democrats want to win — in New York or anywhere else — they need to stop talking over the people who built the party. We don’t need to be lectured about justice by people who only started paying attention to inequality a few years ago. We need to be asked what matters, and actually listened to. That means hearing leaders like Clyburn even when you don’t agree. It means trusting that Black voters are capable of making choices in our own interest.

Yes, this is about Cuomo and Clyburn. But it’s also about whether the left can be a real coalition or just an echo chamber. Whether there’s space for complexity, or only room for people who already agree with you.

It’s time to ask what solidarity really means. Because if you keep claiming to fight for communities while ignoring them when they speak, don’t be shocked when they stop listening back.