White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is dismissing Republican criticism of President Joe Biden’s voting rights speech as “hilarious.”
When asked about Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) claim that Biden is going “down the same tragic road” as his predecessor, Psaki said, “With all due respect to Sen. Romney, I think anyone would note there’s a night and day difference between fomenting an insurrection based on lies totally debunked… and making objective true statements which is what the president made yesterday.”
“I know there has been a lot of claim of the offensive nature of the speech yesterday which is hilarious on many levels, given how many people sat silently over the last four years for the former president,” she continued.
Finally, she added, “But I would note that in our view, and in the president’s view, what is far more offensive is the effort to suppress people’s basic right to exercise who they want to support and who they want to elect. That’s not a partisan thing. And that was why he gave such a strong speech yesterday.”
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Psaki responds to Sen. Romney's criticism: "I know there has been a lot of claim of the offensive nature of the speech yesterday which is hilarious on many levels, given how many people sat silently over the last four years for the former president." https://t.co/vThtDiuXVg pic.twitter.com/yWFtKlhwnS
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 12, 2022
During a speech on Tuesday, Biden urged the Senate to change the filibuster rules, if necessary, to pass sweeping voting rights legislation.
He also appeared to suggest that those who oppose voting rights legislation being pushed by Democrats are on the same “side” as Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
“So I ask every elected official in America, how do you want to be remembered?” he said, adding, “Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?”
His remarks drew heavy criticism from Republicans.
On Wednesday, Romney said during a floor speech, “He also accused a number of my good and principled colleagues of the Senate of having sinister, even racist, inclinations.”
“President Biden goes down the same tragic road taken by President Trump — casting doubt on the reliability of American elections,” he added as he pointed to a quote from Biden that claimed Republicans want to “turn the will of the voters into a mere suggestion.”
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “Yesterday he invoked the bloody disunion of the Civil War to demonize Americans who disagree with him. He compared a bipartisan majority of senators to literal traitors. How profoundly, profoundly, unpresidential.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell GOES IN on President Joe Biden over his Tuesday voting rights speech, characterizing it as "profoundly, profoundly unpresidential."
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 12, 2022
"I did not recognize the man at the podium yesterday." pic.twitter.com/bBS1qc5C8c
“I’ve known, liked, and personally respected Joe Biden for many years. I did not recognize the man at the podium yesterday,” he added.
