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U.S. President Joe Biden issued one of his strongest condemnations of election fraud claims defended by his predecessor Donald Trump, in a speech denouncing Republican efforts to tighten voting rules nationwide. .
“For those who challenge the results or question the integrity of the election, no other election has ever been held under such control and such high standards,” Biden said Tuesday at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
“The big lie is this: a big lie,” he added, a reference to Trump’s unfounded claim that he was robbed of the 2020 presidential election.
Biden has largely tried to look beyond Trump during his first months in office. But some Democrats have urged him to take a tougher stance against the former president and his supporters, as Republican lawmakers across the country support stricter voting restrictions.
“Aren’t you ashamed?” Biden asked, in comments addressed to elected Republicans. “Stand up for the love of God and help us to avoid this concerted effort to undermine our elections and the sacred right to vote.”
Biden’s speech came a day after Texas Democrats took the bold step of leaving their state capital on Monday and flying to Washington.
His move denied state Republicans the two-thirds quorum needed to proceed with the vote on a bill to limit access to the polls. Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, has threatened to arrest Democrats fleeing his return.
Karine Jean-Pierre, a White House spokeswoman, said Biden “applauds [the] courage ”from Texas lawmakers, who met Kamala Harris, the vice president, in Washington on Tuesday.
Texas lawmakers sat Tuesday with Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat. They are also expected to meet Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democratic senator who has opposed changing Senate rules to pass new federal voting rights laws.
Since the 2020 election, Republican lawmakers in U.S. state houses have called for tougher rules on when and how to vote, including a repeal of the early voting provisions set in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Brennan Justice Center, by mid-May, lawmakers had enacted at least 22 bills to restrict voting to 14 states this year. At least 61 other bills in 18 states were being considered by state legislatures. The US Department of Justice does demanded the state of Georgia to block a law passed restricting access to the polls, which was condemned for companies included Coca-Cola and Delta.
Biden on Tuesday appealed to the public to support Democrats’ efforts to pass two federal bills to counter Republican-led state efforts: “Jim Crow’s 21st century assault is real. It is relentless. We will challenge it vigorously, ”Biden said.
He said a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision had also again put the “burden on Congress” to act. Earlier this month, the court rejected claims that two Arizona voting laws – which prohibited “ballot collection” and rejected ballots cast at the wrong venue – were discriminatory.
Biden and Democrats are facing a tough battle to push federal legislation through the Senate, which is split between 50 and 50 between Democrats and Republicans. Senate government rules require that most legislation receive the support of 60 lawmakers in the 100-member upper house.
Several Democratic senators, including Manchin and Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema, have said they oppose getting rid of the convention to pass voting-related laws.
Jim Clyburn, the longtime South Carolina congressman and Biden supporter, said over the weekend that the president “should support” the idea of an exemption from the right to vote for filibusters.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that Biden was still opposed to removing the filibuster. “The filibuster is a tool for legislative processes. . . but the decision to make changes will be made by members of the Senate, not by the president, ”he said.
Republicans on Tuesday rejected Biden’s statements, accusing him of calling for a “federal takeover” of the election, which is administered by state officials.
Lizzie Litzow, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Senate Committee, said voters “believe in common sense electoral security reforms” and accused Democrats of “ignoring the will of the people by provoking a false outrage over Republican efforts to make the safer elections “.
A University of Monmouth poll last month found that 71% of Americans thought early voting in person should be facilitated. At the same time, four out of five Americans said they supported laws that required voters to show photo identification to vote.
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