Top Democrat Downplays Impact of Cost of Gas, Food on Midterms

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said in a recent interview that voters' economic concerns are not as important as protecting democracy.

The South Carolina Democrat told Fox News on Thursday that Americans should ponder whether they want to live in a democracy or autocracy, conjuring past comments made by former President Donald Trump in which he called the press "the enemy of the people."

"I think that people should be voting in their own self-interest," Clyburn said. "And their self-interest is much more than what you may or may not be paying for gas or a loaf of bread. ... The question is, are we going to have a society that everyone can participate in? Or are we going to have an autocracy?"