President Biden on Wednesday said he believes minorities will vote in the upcoming midterm elections, even if Democrats can’t pass voting rights legislation to counteract voting laws being led by Republicans on the state level.
“No matter how hard they make it for minorities to vote, I think you’re going to see them willing to stand in line and defy the attempt to keep them from being able to vote,” Biden told reporters when asked if he thinks the upcoming midterm election will be fairly conducted and its results will be legitimate without passing voting rights bills.
“I think you’re gonna see the people they’re trying to keep from being able to show up, showing up and making the sacrifice that needs to made in order to change the law back to what is should be,” he added.
The president, during his second solo press conference at the White House, noted the voter turnout in the 2020 election.
“Look, maybe I’m just being too much of an optimist. Remember how we thought not that many people were going to show up to vote in the middle of pandemic? And had the highest voter turnout in the history of the United States of America?” he said.
Biden made the case last week in Georgia for Democrats to alter the Senate filibuster to pass voting rights bills, which was praised by civil rights leaders but also regarded as a belated push for legislation to counteract Republican state voting laws.
Senate Democrats are pushing for voting rights legislation on Wednesday, making a final plea to their colleagues to support changing the filibuster so they can get the 50 votes needed to change the rules, which currently party leaders do not have.
The president on Wednesday said he was still optimistic about passing voting rights legislation.
“It’s going to be difficult. I make no bones about that. It’s going to be difficult, but we’re not there yet. We’ve not run out of options yet. And we will see how this moves,” he said.
The president reiterated he hasn’t given up on voting rights legislation when he asked if there was anything he was confident he can get signed into law before the midterms.
“I’m confident that we can make the case to the American people that the people they should be voting for who can oversee whether elections in fact are legit or not should not be those who are being put up by the Republicans to determine that they’re going to be able to change the outcome of the election,” he said.
He added that he’s also confident he can get “pieces, big chunks” of his Build Back Better agenda, the sweeping climate and social spending bill that currently doesn’t have enough votes in the Senate to pass, done by the midterms.
He was asked during the press conference about comments from Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Sunday that he never got a call from the White House to discuss voting rights legislation.
The president acknowledged he focused on calls to Democrats, adding that he personally likes Romney.
“I was trying to make sure we got everyone on the same page in my party on this and didn’t call many Republicans at all,” Biden said.