'I’m insulted that you asked the question': Biden snaps at reporter who asked him why Stacey Abrams isn't going to his voting rights speech and insists it was a scheduling mix-up
President Joe Biden insisted that 'everything is fine' Tuesday as he flew to Atlanta to deliver a major speech on voting rights – snapping at a reporter who questioned him about an activist boycott and a snafu involving former candidate for governor Stacey Abrams.
Biden left the White House for the high profile event amid growing frustration from some activists that his administration has not done more to boost voting access by overcoming a GOP blockade in the Senate and head off Republican efforts in the states.
Asked if he was insulted by the absence of Abrams – which Biden described as a scheduling conflict – he responded: 'I’m insulted that you asked the question.'
He explained: 'I spoke to Stacey this morning. We have a great relationship. We got our scheduling mixed up. I talked to her at length this morning. We're all on the same page, and everything's fine.'
President Joe Biden headed to Atlanta Tuesday for a major speech on voting rights. Asked about candidate for governor Stacey Abrams, who won't be there, Biden said: 'We have a great relationship. We got our scheduling mixed up. I talked to her at length this morning. We're all on the same page'
Asked what he risked politically, given where things stand in the Senate, Biden responded: 'I risk not saying what I believe. That’s what I risk. This is one of those defining moments. It really is.'
Said Biden: 'People are going to be judged, where were they before and where were they after the vote. History is going to judge this – it's that consequential. And so the risk is making sure people understand just how important this is,' he said.
Biden gave the reassurance as he prepared in his speech to push the Senate on Tuesday to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation in a speech in Atlanta that some activists will boycott to protest the administration's lack of action on the issue.
Abrams, a major advocate for voting rights, will not be at Biden's event but it's because of a 'conflict,' according to her aides.
Biden, who will be accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, will tout 'democracy over autocracy' in a hard-hitting speech designed to pressure senators into action.
'The next few days, when these bills come to a vote, will mark a turning point in this nation. Will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadow, justice over injustice?,' he will say, according to excerpts released from the White House.
'I know where I stand. I will not yield. I will not flinch. I will defend your right to vote and our democracy against all enemies foreign and domestic. And so the question is where will the institution of United States Senate stand?,' Biden will ask.
President Joe Biden will push the Senate to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation in a speech in Atlanta
Vice President Kamala Harris will accompany Biden to his Georgia events
In order for Senate rules to be changed, Biden needs all 50 of his Democratic senators on board. Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have raised concerns about eliminating the filibuster, which removes the 60-vote threshold to advance legislation.
Manchin once again said Tuesday that he is not keen with changes to the Senate's filibuster rules.
'We need some good rules changes to make the place work better. But getting rid of the filibuster doesn’t make it work better,' Manchin told reporters.
He has allowed he might be open to a formal rules change – based on two-thirds of those voting present to do so. He called that 'Democrats, Republicans changing the rules to make the place work better. Getting rid of the filibuster doesn’t make it work better.'
But Democrats are discussing pushing through the change on a simple majority vote, amid an ongoing Republican filibuster of voting rights legislation. Without Manchin, such an effort would fail.
Amid the high-powered focus on the chamber's rules, Senate Republicans are threatening to force votes on a slew of bills designed to split the Democratic caucus and take over the floor agenda should Majority Leader Charles Schumer carry out his threat to push through a change in Senate filibuster rules for voting rights.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been leading a Republican filibuster against the bills, threatened to use Senate rules to call up a raft of legislation in response – including bills that might peel off a vote a or two from vulnerable Democrats.
'Since Sen. Schumer is hellbent on trying to break the Senate, Republicans will show how this reckless action would have immediate consequences,' McConnell vowed.
McConnell's planned virtual takeover of the floor agenda would not result in new laws – Democrats could block them and President Biden could veto them anyway. But it could put pressure on Democrats while also tying up the floor with procedural votes.
On tap would be legislation including a bill on the Keystone XL pipeline, a project President Joe Biden blocked at the start of his term. An amendment to revive it drew support from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) early last year.
Five U.S. senators will join the president on the trip – but not Manchin or Sinema.
Stacey Abrams, a major advocate for voting rights and a gubernatorial candidate, is one who will not be at Biden's event but it's because of a 'conflict,' according to her aides
Biden's travel to Georgia, which many Democrats consider 'ground zero' for voter suppression efforts, comes as Republican senators are vowing to filibuster both pieces of voting rights legislation, arguing elections are state issues, not federal ones.
And while Biden, who served 36 years in the Senate, will make it clear he only supports a carve out for the filibuster for voting rights legislation, Republicans argue it could be extended to other legislation, thereby diminishing its power.
Additionally, not all Democrats are happy with Biden's speech. A group of local voting and civil rights leaders are boycotting the president's event in frustration with the lack of action on voting rights, arguing the Biden administration is more concerned about optics than results.
Ahead of the trip, the groups asked Biden not to come to the state without a plan to pass voting rights legislation and some are now boycotting the president's event.
'We're beyond speeches. We're beyond events,' LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter told reporters Monday in a briefing. 'What we are demanding is federal legislation.'
The Asian American Advocacy Fund, Black Voters Matter Action Fund, GALEO Impact Fund, Inc., New Georgia Project Action Fund and Black Voters Matter announced ahead of Biden's visit that they will not attend.
Abrams' campaign did not detail the 'conflict' that is causing her to miss the president's speech. Her voting rights advocacy worked helped Biden win the state of Georgia in the 2020 election.
The White House, in response to the boycotss, blasted out a list of civil rights leaders attending the speech, including high-profile names like the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, People for the American Way President Ben Jealous, and Fighting for Our Vote's Leah Daughtry.
Bernice King, chief executive at the King Center and daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., will meet with the president during his trip and be at his speech but says she is frustrated by the lack of progress on federal legislation.
'Just as my father went to the White House with (President Lyndon B.) Johnson and then went to the streets in Selma, Alabama, I'm with the whole process,' she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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