'It's sick': Biden on proposed legislation to restrict voting rights
During Thursday’s press conference, President Biden was asked about moves to restrict voting rights of Americans. He responded, “This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,” and said he will do everything in his power to keep the proposed legislation from becoming law.
Video Transcript
- And as your Yamiche mentioned, Republican legislatures across the country are working to pass bills that would restrict voting, particularly, Democrats fear, impacting minority voters and young voters, the very people who helped to get you elected in November. Are you worried that if you don't manage to pass voting rights legislation, that your party is going to lose seats and possibly lose control of the House and the Senate in 2022?
JOE BIDEN: What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick. Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote, deciding that you're going to end voting at 5:00 when working people are just getting off work, deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances, it's all designed.
And I'm going to spend my time doing three things, one, trying to figure out how to pass the legislation passed by the House, number one, number two, educating the American public. The Republican voters I know find this despicable, Republican voters, folks outside this White House.
I'm not talking about the elected officials. I'm talking about voters, voters. And so I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this, because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. I mean, this is gigantic, what they're trying to do. And it cannot be sustained. I'm going to do everything in my power, along with my friends in the House and the Senate, to keep that from becoming the law.
