Nowhere is the demographic gap between the two leading Democratic presidential candidates more visible and more extreme than in South Carolina, where both are heading Friday for a jam-packed weekend of events aimed at appealing to African-Americans, anchored by a forum Friday night sponsored by the South Carolina Democratic Party and MSNBC.

The state plays a key role in the nominating process as the first contest in the South, as well as the first contest to feature a large number of African-American voters – the most steadfast Democratic Party constituency.

Front-runner Hillary Clinton is currently swamping challenger Bernie Sanders in South Carolina, 71% to 15%, thanks to her large advantage among nonwhite voters, according to a new poll from Winthrop University, which will host Friday’s forum. Among black voters, who make up a majority of the Democratic primary electorate in South Carolina, Clinton’s support climbs to 80%, while Sanders’ falls to just 8%, with 10% undecided.

"Sometimes people forget he was assassinated because he stood up with sanitation workers fighting for decent wages and decent working conditions," Sanders said, referring to King being shot in 1968 in Memphis, where he went to support striking workers."

Hillary Clinton comes out in support of Planned Parenthood

Hillary Clinton is making her position on Planned Parenthood very clear: She is in full support of the organization.

“I’m proud to stand with Planned Parenthood, I’ll never stop fighting to protect the ability and right of every woman in this country to make her own health decisions,” Clinton said in a video released Monday.

The video is the strongest statement on the organization to date from the 2016 Democratic front-runner.

Planned Parenthood has been under fire since a series of undercover videos were released by an anti-abortion advocacy group over the past few weeks.