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President Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized what he called his Republican predecessor’s “Big Lie” along with GOP-led state legislatures that are restricting access to voting, as he gave a speech in Philadelphia on voting rights.
“There’s an unfolding assault taking place in America today — an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections, an assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are — who we are as Americans,” Biden said.
“For make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear, peddlers of lies, are threatening the very foundation of our country.”
He also expressed support for Democratic lawmakers’ federal election legislation that has been blocked by Senate Republicans.
Biden’s strong words come after his administration has faced growing complaints from civil rights activists and other Democrats that it hasn’t done enough on the issue of voting rights.
In Tuesday’s speech, Biden attacked former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 presidential election wasn’t legitimate.
“The Big Lie is just that — a big lie,” the current commander-in-chief said.
“In America, if you lose, you accept the results,” he added. “You follow the Constitution. You try again. You don’t call facts ‘fake,’ then try to bring down the American experiment just because you’re unhappy. That’s not statesmanship. That’s selfishness.”
Related: ‘Big Lie’ allegiance dividing Republicans into Trump loyalists and a Cheney-Romney-Kinzinger wing
U.S. stocks
SPX,
lost ground Tuesday, after all three main benchmarks clinched records on Monday, as investors digested hotter-than-expected inflation data and quarterly results from big banks.
