Was Biden's Voting Speech Praiseworthy or Too Partisan?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President Joe Biden's voting reforms speech divided the political spectrum this week.
Biden spoke Tuesday in Georgia about reforming the Senate filibuster and advancing new voting laws. He challenged listeners to stand "against voter suppression" and asked if they'd rather be "on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?" House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised the speech as "fabulous," and the White House press corps dismissed criticism of it. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Biden's rhetoric "went a little too far." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Biden's speech was "incoherent, incorrect and beneath his office." Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Az.) announced Thursday that she won't support filibuster reform, casting doubt on Biden's election reform agenda.
Right-rated voices were critical of the speech, accusing Biden of political hypocrisy and race-baiting for invoking the names of Confederate leaders. Some highlighted Durbin's comments; others offered fact-checks of Biden's false and misleading comments during the speech, or alleged that Biden is ignoring bipartisan election reform efforts. Some left-rated voices celebrated the speech while speculating about how it may fall short. One Washington Post writer accused Republicans of a "nationwide assault on voting" and said Biden was "eloquent and passionate." Writer Charles Blow (Lean Left bias) labeled Republicans the "real villains" for "restricting ballot access and reducing the voting power of people," but said if the voting reforms fail, "many in the Black community will feel like they have been stabbed in the back."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
What a Garbage Speech
In his wisdom, Joe Biden has decided to declare there’s a crisis in our democracy that can only be fixed if two bills pass in the next several days that aren’t going to pass. Maybe for some perverse reason he likes appearing weak and ineffectual. Regardless, he has now done more than his share to undermine faith in our electoral system.
He tried to make Georgia the poster child for voter suppression based on last year’s election reform. Biden’s case was, predictably, incredibly weak. Georgia has limited drop boxes! Well, yeah, it...
From the Left
Biden’s speech on voting rights was full of soaring rhetoric. It may not matter.
President Biden traveled to Georgia on Tuesday to call on the Senate to do whatever is necessary, including changing the Senate’s filibuster rule, to protect voting rights and secure our democracy. He was eloquent and passionate, but soaring rhetoric isn’t likely to persuade the two Democratic holdouts whose votes will be necessary to sidestep the filibuster.
“The battle for the soul of America is not over,” he insisted. Directing his ire at the defeated former president and his supporters, Biden argued, “They want chaos to reign; we want the...
From the Center
Tulsi Gabbard Says Biden Speech Worse Than Clinton's 'Deplorables' Comment
President Joe Biden's speech in Georgia championing voting rights legislation this week was labeled as divisive by former representative Tulsi Gabbard, who was once a contender in the Democratic Party's presidential primaries.
Gabbard, a former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) who served as congresswoman for Hawaii's second congressional district until 2021, endorsed Biden when she dropped out of the 2020 presidential race.
But she took aim at Biden after his speech on Tuesday, which was given in one of the states where Democrats say Republicans have rolled back voting rights due to legislation they condemn...
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