On 10/25/2022, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “President Biden last year likened the new Georgia voting law to, quote, “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” But turnout so far in the state’s elections has smashed midterm records. Today topped 1 million votes overall. That’s about 70 percent more than 2018, on par with the presidential election turnout. Was President Biden wrong with his assessment of Georgia’s — Georgia’s voting law, or does he stand by that Jim Crow comparison?”
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you know, I got to be careful; I cannot get into politics from here, so I won’t comment specifically on that race or on the elections or the data that’s coming out of Georgia. But the President has been very clear that based on the — the Big Lie, there have been a host of anti-voter policies forced on states that challenge America’s fundament- — fundamental right to vote — right? — the access to voting. And so this is — this is against our most basic values, including respect for the law and the Constitution. And speaking generally, of course — more broadly — of course, high turnout and voter suppression can take place at the same time. They don’t have to be — one doesn’t have to happen on its own. They could be happening at the same time. But I’ll leave it there without being able to really dig into the politics of this.
Reporter: Is the White House observing instances of voter suppression in Georgia and other states that adopted some of these laws over the last two years?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, we — we have seen, ourselves — I just laid out we’ve seen ourselves from what legislation — state legislations that we have seen across the country that is suppressing the right to vote. And, look, we believe that people should have the fundamental access to voting.
Reporter: But doesn’t that record turnout show that Georgia voters are finding ways to vote, even amid the — with the?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, again, I’m not going to get into specifics of what Georgia voters are doing. What I am saying is that, you know, generally speaking, again — more broadly speaking, of course — high turnout and voter suppression can take place at the same time.
Reporter: Karine, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said today that Saudi had been the mature guys or mature partner in this dispute between the United States and Saudi. Just wanted to see if the White House had a reaction to that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, let me just say a couple of things at the top here. This is a relationship that — that was built — and I’ve said this also many times — over — over several decades on a bipartisan basis. So, the President is going to strategically think through what the review process is and how we move forward with this relationship. He’s going to take his time to consult with members of both parties, with party — with partners, allies … will inform our consultations and — and review. I’m certainly not going to comment on any specific statement that you just laid out.
Reporter: It seems like a little bit more conciliatory language, though, that you’ve been using for the last couple of weeks.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I think we’ve been very clear … Look, I’m not going to get into any tit-from-tat [sic] — tit-or-tat [sic] here from — from the podium about what someone may have said in Saudi Arabia. But I’m just going to lay out how this President sees this relationship and how this President sees this relationship moving forward.
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WH Jim Crow 2.0? can’t name any voter suppression, high turnout & voter suppression at same time.