Buttigieg: ‘I Admire’ Idea of Voter Protections Being ‘a Kind of Democratic or Moral Infrastructure’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that the idea of voter protections “being a kind of democratic or moral infrastructure” is something he admires.

Host Joy Reid asked, “Sen. Klobuchar and Sen. Warren…they’ve talked about the fact that election infrastructure could be viewed as infrastructure. Should we expect there to be the White House weighing in and saying, maybe we can get some of these election protection provisions into this next bill, seeing as…the filibuster’s not going anywhere for now, should we expect to see some election infrastructure placed in the human infrastructure bill so that at least that your folks can vote?”

Buttigieg responded, “I don’t know the finer points of what the Senate negotiators will be prepared to put in or what’ll get past the parliamentarian. But I know this, whatever the vehicle is, the president has called on Congress, called on America to pass real voter protections, whether we’re talking about the John Lewis Act, the For the People Act, all of the things that need to happen in order to make sure that we protect that foundation. I admire this idea of it being a kind of democratic or moral infrastructure, but whatever you want to call it, it’s a sacred right. It’s a vital right. It’s part of what makes America America and we have to pursue that as well.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett