President Joe Biden plans to deliver an angry speech condemning election integrity laws in Georgia on Tuesday, but prominent voting rights activists are skipping the event and telling him to stay home.
“Instead of giving a speech tomorrow, the US Senate should be voting tomorrow,” a coalition of voting rights groups said in a joint statement.
“What we need now, rather than a visit from the president, vice-president and legislators is for the White House and Senate to remain in DC and act immediately to pass federal legislation to protect our freedom to vote.”
The Georgia groups criticizing Joe Biden’s speech as a “photo op” include The Galeo Impact Fund, New Georgia Project Action Fund, Black Votes Matter, Asian American Advocacy Fund, and the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council.
“Georgia voters are facing attacks on all fronts, and there is not time during these fights to attend a speech and meet to reiterate the seriousness of this moment,” the coalition said in a joint statement.
Biden is expected to call for the United States Senate to end the filibuster rules in order to federalize elections with only a 50 vote margin.
“We’re beyond speeches. At this point, what we need, what we are demanding, is federal legislation,” said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Votes Matter.
Biden is traveling with Vice President Kamala Harris, who also plans to speak on the issue after taking it under her policy portfolio.
James Woodall, former president of the NAACP of Georgia dismissed Biden and Harris’ trip to the state as “more platitudes.”
“We do not need any more speeches, we don’t need any more platitudes,” he said to the New York Times. “We don’t need any more photo ops. We need action.”
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