We recently discussed the false statement made repeatedly by President Joe Biden about the Georgia election law, which Biden has called “Jim Crow on steroids.” Biden falsely claims that the law closes polling places earlier, a claim that even the Washington Post decried as false. Biden has not only repeated his earlier false claim but added a new one in supporting a boycott of the state of Georgia by Major League Baseball. It is a common false claim made about denying water under the law to people standing in line to vote. What is astonishing is that the media itself has fueled this false narrative and it is being used as a key claim in boycotting the state.
During an interview on ESPN, Biden again declared the law as “Jim Crow on steroids” and added:
“I think that today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that. People look to them, they’re leaders. Look at what’s happened with the NBA as well. Look at what’s happened across the board. The people who’ve been victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports and it’s just not right. Imagine passing a law saying you cannot provide water or food for someone standing in line to vote, can’t do that? C’mon! Or you’re going to close a polling place at 5 o’clock when working people just get off? This is all about keeping working folks and ordinary folks that I grew up with from being able to vote.”
Indeed, it is hard to “imagine” because it is not true and the White House knows that it is not true. If a president is going to accuse a state of passing a Jim Crow law (let alone supporting a boycott), there is an expectation of a modicum of accuracy and fairness. Otherwise, it degrades not just the movement for voting rights but the Office of the Presidency itself.
I will not repeat the clearly false claim about closing polling places early. As the Washington Post noted (and repeated after this latest interview), “the net effect [of the Georgia law] is … to expand the opportunities to vote for most Georgians, not limit them.” The use of the provision to suggest a reduction in voting hours was a knowing misrepresentation by those seeking to justify the federalization of election laws in Congress. Despite being called out on the false statement, President Biden continues to repeat it.
The water claim is equally disingenuous and false. The law does not prevent people from giving water to those standing in line. The law allows “self-service water from an unattended receptacle” for voters waiting in line. It also allows anyone to give water or food to any voters outside of limited area around the polling place.
It is common to bar any political campaigning or activities within a certain number of feet (often 150 feet — or a shorter distance from any line extending beyond that area).
Here is the provision:
“(a) No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, offer to give, or participate in the giving of any money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink, to an elector, nor shall any person solicit signatures for any petition, nor shall any person, other than election officials discharging their duties, establish or set up any tables or booths on any day in which ballots are being cast
(1) Within 150 feet of the outer edge of any building within which a polling place is
(2) Within any polling place; or
(3) Within 25 feet of any voter standing in line to vote at any polling place.”
The bill then allows for “self-service water from an unattended receptacle to an elector waiting in line to vote.” It also does not limit any poll workers from supplying water to voters.
Georgia officials said that the impetus for the rule was that various political organizations in 2019 circumvented the no politicking rule by handing out food and water with actual food trucks set up for this purpose. The rule is designed to close that loophole. If campaigns or others are really concerned with just getting water to voters, they can still do so. They simply cannot take credit for it or directly engage voters in the limited area next to polling places.
Even Politifact (which as been criticized by conservatives for bias) recognized the water can be given to voters while finding that it is untrue that only political organizations are barred. Politifact also acknowledges that water can be supplied within the protected area of the polling place.
None of that has stopped the reckless rhetoric. Vanderbilt University Professor Michael Eric Dyson joined MSNBC’s host Joy Reid in pushing this false narrative in pushing for the federalization of election laws and added “These are the kind of people that would pass a law to keep Jesus from getting a cup of water while he’s dying on the cross.” Actually, if Jesus was voting from the cross, he would have ample water availability under the law though it would seem a stronger case for absentee voting under Georgia law.
So why would there be such outrage if the interest is only the comfort of voters? As long as you do not seek to have direct campaign contacts with voters at polling places, you can supply as much water as you want either just before the protected area or through apolitical open receptacles.
The level of misrepresentation of these provisions in the media has been chilling. The narrative has overwhelmed the news on the factual basis of these claims.
This column was updated.
I wonder many people would cry “racist” and not show if they were giving away 2k in cash but you had to show photo ID and you don’t get a bottle of water?
Another lie by Joe Biden! On the campaign trail Joe PROMISED to get $2,000 checks (not $1400) out immediately if we elected Democrats! The $600 they are bs’ing about came from Trump’s relief payments (of which Trump actually got MORE relief to the average person). Just another promise broken and another lie Joe Biden keeps repeating.
You do realize, don’t you, that the President doesn’t have the unilateral authority to hand out checks and has to go through Congress? I find it beyond bizarre that people who had absolutely no trouble with President Trump’s constant lying, now complaining about dishonesty from Biden.
Supposed “fact checkers” marked Trump as lying even when they had to admit he had the facts right. Trump’s a fabulist. All politicians lie, but Biden’s giving us some real whoppers, as are his cohort.
Or those that hated Trump for lying now swearing Joe is telling the truth.
Anonymous, Trump is the one who wanted $2,000 checks. He literally told congress that’s what he wanted. Republicans being the cheapskates they are approved of only $600. But then Biden finished delivering Trump’s wish of $2000 by delivering the remainder.
Biden took Trump’s suggestion and implemented it. He finished what trump couldn’t deliver.
Brutus 1 in part. Is this not what we are witnessing in ever aspect of our Federal Government and State Houses?
“In a republic of such vast extent as the United-States, the legislature cannot attend to the various concerns and wants of its different parts. It cannot be sufficiently numerous to be acquainted with the local condition and wants of the different districts, and if it could, it is impossible it should have sufficient time to attend to and provide for all the variety of cases of this nature, that would be continually arising.
In so extensive a republic, the great officers of government would soon become above the controul of the people, and abuse their power to the purpose of aggrandizing themselves, and oppressing them. The trust committed to the executive offices, in a country of the extent of the United-States, must be various and of magnitude. The command of all the troops and navy of the republic, the appointment of officers, the power of pardoning offences, the collecting of all the public revenues, and the power of expending them, with a number of other powers, must be lodged and exercised in every state, in the hands of a few. When these are attended with great honor and emolument, as they always will be in large states, so as greatly to interest men to pursue them, and to be proper objects for ambitious and designing men, such men will be ever restless in their pursuit after them. They will use the power, when they have acquired it, to the purposes of gratifying their own interest and ambition, and it is scarcely possible, in a very large republic, to call them to account for their misconduct, or to prevent their abuse of power.
These are some of the reasons by which it appears, that a free republic cannot long subsist over a country of the great extent of these states. If then this new constitution is calculated to consolidate the thirteen states into one, as it evidently is, it ought not to be adopted.”
And yet when Trump told lies, it was the end of the world. Double standard. Those cowardly corporations that have denounced the new law show that their decisionmakers are illiterate.
(music to the tune of Sam Stone Came Home)
Jim Crow…came home!
To Washington DC!
After surging time in Nashville Tennessee.
His new names Johnny Turkey…
And he calls Biden a jerkey
With an overdose…
Hovering in the rails.
“So why would there be such outrage if the interest is only the comfort of voters?”
Jonathan, “Come on man”!
They are feigning outrage because they’re afraid they can’t continue to rig elections. So, with the impending mid-term Dem bloodbath looming after the economy completely implodes, they are painfully aware that they will need to use the same tactics again or they will lose the House and the Senate.
So Turley, so you’re on the clock for FOXNEWS 24-7?
‘Biden: Elect me because we need to heal, unite, and work together.
Also Biden: I endorse a Major League Baseball boycott against Georgia for their worse-than-Jim-Crow voting law, about which I’ve been repeatedly fact-checked due to my embarrassing ignorance.’ @guypbenson
PHOTUS; noun US; /ˈfoʊ.t̬əs/
abbreviation for POTATO HEAD OF THE UNITED STATES;
ex. PHOTUS has signed an executive order, giving potatoes the vote.
The demonization of the Georgia law indicates the high stakes in the political game. The Democrats and their corporate backers clearly see the benefit to centralizing power, beginning with election laws but who knows what their next target will be. Everything under one federal roof just makes controlling the country, and future election outcomes, that much easier.
t would be funny if not so dangerous and pathetic
It should be becoming obvious – Joe Biden is either completely incompetent or he hasn’t the faintest clue of the role of the President of the United States, which is to PRESIDE over the Executive Branch! He has no right to be pressing for a boycott of a state of the Union. It was this kind of crap by New England Republicans that led to the American Civil War, War Between the States, War of Northern Aggression or whatever you want to call it. The Constitution is very clear on the role of government and it is NOT for one political party (political parties aren’t even addressed in the Constitution) to lord it over the entire country. This man needs to be removed from office by whatever means. He is using executive orders to legislate. By the way, “Jim Crow laws” did not prevent people from voting. Anyone could vote who could read and who had paid their poll tax, a tax that predated the Revolutionary War and was used to raise funds for government. All Americans were given the rights of citizens, including the right to vote by the Fourteenth Amendment, although it is not stated. However, voting was done IN PERSON at established polling places, not by mail or through representation.
Lies, lies, lies, and more lies from the media and Biden White House. Same thing, really.
Watch the media continue to smear, spin, and outright lie about election security laws –that the majority of Americans agree with — calling it “Jim Crow voter suppression.”
It should be no surprise that Biden lies. He has done so consistently throughout his career.
Biden’s first presidential campaign imploded BECAUSE he could not stop lying. And now here he is, still at it.
All politicians lie; the bigger problem is the corrupt fake news that lies on behalf of Democrat politicians.
The democrats have demonstrated their acceptance of using their own version of “ dog whistles” ,namely invoking Jim Crow, white supremacy et al,
to promote a false narrative that is sure to further divide the country.
It is equally disturbing to hear the chairmen of various large multinational corporations – quislings- to bend to calls to boycott their products, companies, by making public statements saying the Georgia election law updates “ are unacceptable”- based on nothing , nothing specific, just blanket statements parroting the media, pols, groups, etc.
These leaders have a phalanx of high priced white shoe lawyers at their disposal to actually READ the changes , research various election laws throughout the US and make an INFORMED statement based on facts, not feelings.
I have yet to hear what in the law is invoking JIm Crow, white supremacy or making it harder to vote, while ensuring election security, TRUST in elections uttered by these captains of industry.
And to hear the president parrot unfounded lies is sad, disturbing and dangerous to the country.
Here is the irony – there never were “Jim Crow” laws or “Jim Crow.” The term came into use in the Twentieth Century by black activists who claimed that they were expected to be told to jump, then to ask “how high.” The term is believed to refer to a black-face comedian who appeared on stage before the civil war. As for so-called “Jim Crow” laws, if you actually look at them you’ll see that they were aimed at (limited) segregation of the races, primarily in schools. Some cities and states required separation of blacks and whites on trains and public transportation. There were also laws against interracial marriage in some states. The irony is that segregation was okay with most blacks. For example, when the Memphis schools were integrated, the NAACP could only find thirteen black families in the entire city who were willing to send their children to white schools and they were from the educated black elite of the city. Even after the 1964 Civil Rights Law was passed, blacks continued to segregate themselves from whites as much as they could.
I grew up in LA during busing in a all white neighborhood. I can say without a doubt that the white people did not want to be integrated with blacks! Of course the black parents want a better education for their children, but they want there children to be safe. I knew police that bragged about beating up blacks and the children used the N-word when taking about blacks. It’s a lie that blacks want to be segregated, of course they want to be part of society and have a better life. We have to put more resources into rebuilding the schools and infrastructure of poor neighborhoods instead of going to Mars and spending close to a trillion dollars a year in defense.
Biden is now Liar and Chief along with Commander and Chief.
Biden didn’t render an opinion. He rendered facts that are knowingly wrong.
Uhh, Biden is NOT Commander in Chief of the nation. The Constitution makes the President commander in chief of the Army and the Navy, and the state militias when they are called into the national service… period.
“Uhh, Biden is NOT Commander in Chief of the nation. The Constitution makes the President commander in chief of the Army and the Navy, and the state militias when they are called into the national service… period.”
Sem, you will have to go into more detail than you have.
The purpose of the Commander in Chief clause is to make the president is in control of the military so it is not beyond his control. The military cannot be independent. It cannot report to another entity. The president in peacetime is in authority over the military deployments. I think you understand the president’s position in wartime.
Question, have you ever heard of Donald Trump?
Question, have you ever heard of Donald Trump?
Hillary has his name etched on her chest…both of them
😜
Fishwings, have you ever heard of the Constitution?
SM
S. Meyer, but lying is ok. Trump lied incessantly. Yet you were completely ok with it.
This shouldn’t be an issue. According to republicans lying is perfectly fine and acceptable.
Svelaz, you are stuck on generalities but are unable to deal in specifics. I await you saying something that makes sense.
SM
This is pure & simple “Black Opps”.
“Despite being called out on the false statement, President Biden continues to repeat it.”
And so it goes for Joe Biden. Rinse and repeat. Yep, Biden continues to repeat lies because we have a Fake News Media that lets him get away with it. Joe Biden actually believes his own lies now.
The New York Times even runs a front page full of propaganda for Biden that puts Pravda to shame. It’s so easy to be a Democrat.
Do they keep track of Biden’s lies over there at CNN? Or is that only for Republican presidents?
Divisiveness – the aim of the Dems.
Bloggers here comment that Trump was the greatest presidential liar ever.
Yes Trump lied like a rug.
But Biden is giving him a run for his money.
Remember Biden has amassed a disgusting record of mendacity in under three months.
Early days, but my money is on Biden as the “greatest presidential liar ever”.
And Biden’s aim is to divide and cause conflict among Americans.
Trump is not the only president who lied. Presidents have been lying to the nation ever since George Washington. In fact, one of the primary reasons government documents are classified is to protect lying politicians. FDR lied when he said the US would remain neutral in World War II even as he was in the process of using US military forces clandestinely against Germany and Japan. JFK and LBJ were habitual liars, as was Bill Clinton.
In today’s WSJ Karl Rove compares the new GA voter law to what has existed for years in Delaware. GA comes out as more “liberal”.
Well Biden is a Democrat which roughly translates to lying tyrant in English.
So will the WaPo give him four MORE Pinocchios?