White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a briefing at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
SRDTF News
UPDATED 11:11 AM PT – Thursday, January 13, 2022
The White House is defending Joe Biden’s push for voting rights reform amid mounting GOP scrutiny over his recent speech in Georgia. During a briefing Tuesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden’s remarks clearly struck a nerve and dismissed claims the address was offensive to those who disagree with him.
“The majority of the American public elected the president to do hard things and to fight for hard things, including fighting for issues that may feel like an uphill battle,” she stated. “But they’re vitally important to protecting fundamental rights of the American public.”
Schumer and Biden talk a lot about “voting rights,” but they never describe what the bill actually does.
That’s because the bill gives taxpayer funding to campaigns, mandates ballot harvesting, and abolishes voter-ID laws.
This isn’t voting rights. It’s an election takeover.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) January 13, 2022
The press secretary also said it’s disappointing Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is arguing against voting rights reform. McConnell took to the podium to highlight a series of bizarre remarks Biden made on Tuesday like when he compared supporters of the voting rights bill to civil rights icons and foes to segregationists. The Kentucky Republican said Biden must stop pushing false hysteria and rage on Americans.
“Every single major legislative effort that the President has undertaken, that that he’s been a part of, has been subjected to all manner of speculation and criticism about whether it would happen or not,” Psaki continued. “And if the President paid attention to that, he probably wouldn’t have run for president to begin with.”
The White House official then claimed Biden is not paying attention to critics of his agenda. She also accused Republicans of trying to make it more difficult to vote regarding efforts in many states to pass voter integrity laws.