James Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, endorsed Biden in February ahead of the South Carolina primary.
His endorsement has been credited with helping Biden win that primary, as Black voters surged behind his candidacy.
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Biden went on days later to score a series of victories on Super Tuesday.
At the time, Biden was faltering after lackluster showings in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
Clyburn said he was thinking about what his late wife told him in 2019 when about 20 Democratic presidential candidates attended a fish fry he hosted in his home state.
She couldn’t attend, the congressman said, because “she was beginning to lose her battle with diabetes.”