Well, let me say this, because I'm not going to say this behind your back and not say it to your face, Smith shot back. I'm sitting right here in front of you. I emphatically disagree with what you just alluded to in terms of it might be gender-driven. Smith noted that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election and that Harris received around 75 million votes, a number that is actually higher than votes Trump received in 2016 and 2020.
Eight others, largely erased from public discourse, served during and after Reconstruction, clearing a path that made his tenure possible. A framed image of the eight's portraits hangs in his office. Over the years, Clyburn says that image sparked what ultimately led him to write The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation. The book, which was published this month, restores these men to the historical record and draws lessons from their lives.