During a Thursday interview on NBC’s “Today,” Vice President Kamala Harris dodged saying whether or not President Joe Biden cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2022 midterm elections depending on the passage of voting rights legislation.
Host Savannah Guthrie asked Harris of Biden, “Is he really concerned that we may not have fair and free elections?”
“The president has been consistent on this issue,” Harris replied. “I was there last night in the chamber of the Senate, and the issue is that there are two bills, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, that have been the solution that has been offered to address the fact that around our country states have put in place laws that are purposely making it more difficult for the American people to vote — laws which will be felt by at least 55 million Americans regardless of their party affiliation, their race, their gender or geographic location.”
Guthrie interrupted, saying, “[T]he bills were debated, and they didn’t pass.”
After some cross-talk, Guthrie added, “The specific question, if you don’t mind, does he think now that these bills haven’t been passed that the ’22 midterms won’t be legitimate or fair or free?”
“Let’s not conflate issues,” Harries responded. “So, what we are looking at and the topic of so much debate last night was that we as America cannot afford to allow this blatant erosion of our democracy, and in particular, the right of all Americans who are eligible to vote to have access to the ballot unfettered. That is the topic of the conversation.”
She continued, “And let’s not be distracted by the political gamesmanship when what is truly at stake, issues like whether Americans with disability have the opportunity to vote by mail, whether a single parent has the opportunity with three kids in the backseat to vote by dropping off their ballot in a dropbox instead of having to stand in line with those three kids for hours. These are the issues that are at stake.”
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