What Rep. James Clyburn wishes he had said during DNC speech

After appearing on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, majority whip and longtime Democratic Party leader James Clyburn tells Yahoo News Editor in Chief Daniel Klaidman and Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff what he would have said in his speech if he had had more time.

Video transcript

JAMES CLYBURN: A little bit disappointed with my speech. I think I pronounced all the words correctly, but I wanted to be a little more attached to the community I was in. You could not do it in three minutes. If I had four minutes, I think I could have given a more effective speech when people know.

MICHAEL ISIKOFF: We'll give you that extra minute right here if you'd like to deliver it, Congressman.

JAMES CLYBURN: Well, that's why I'm pleased that you would do that because look, when you're talking about the journey that we've come, I've talked often about the fact that our whole social system in this country is built upon two pillars. One pillar built by people who came to this country of their own free will seeking freedom. White people. The other pillar, Black people who came to this country against their will and were enslaved. And these two pillars formed the foundation upon which we have established this society that we're trying now to deconstruct.

And so I think that most people in this country-- I think that's why Black Lives Matter, that whole movement, has now taken on such a meaning. When people were able to see a Black life being snuffed out the way George Floyd's life was struck out, people began to get much more of an appreciation for that whole movement. And so I really wanted people to get an appreciation for Joe Biden. Joe Biden comes from Delaware. I remember somebody saying to me, well this is the first time in a long time we have not had a southerner on the Democratic ticket. I said, are you kidding me? I said, where do you think Delaware is?