White House press secretary Jen Psaki doubled down Thursday on President Joe Biden’s claim that the recently passed Georgia election bill ends voting hours early, for which he earned four “Pinocchios” from The Washington Post.
Psaki was answering questions during the daily White House press briefing when she was asked by a reporter about the threat of boycotts in Georgia stemming from Biden’s misleading statements concerning the bill, and if the administration planned on issuing a correction. (RELATED: Georgia Legislator Pushes Back On CNN Host’s Criticisms And ‘False Narrative’ Surrounding Georgia Election Bill)
The reporter began by claiming that community organizers have been threatening boycotts of corporations based in Georgia “in part” from Biden’s statements concerning changes in voting hours included in the elections bill. He stated that Biden said the bill “requires voting to end early at 5:00 p.m.,” but that it actually standardizes voting hours and allows extended voting hours from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. He then asked Psaki if there would be a correction issued on Biden’s claim.
“It standardizes the ending of voting everyday at 5:00 p.m. right? It just gives options?” Psaki asked in response.
The reporter attempted to answer her question but Psaki began speaking over him, saying, “It gives options to expand it, right, but it standardizes it at 5:00 p.m.? It also makes it so that outside groups can’t provide water or food to people in line, right?”
The reporter attempted to speak again but Psaki continued speaking over him, saying, “It makes it more difficult to absentee vote? Are those things all correct?”
After asking those questions, Psaki allowed the reporter to continue. He began to ask her if the tone from the White House was going to change, but then interrupted him again.
“The tone for a bill that limits voting access and makes it more difficult for people to engage in voting in Georgia?” she asked, to which the reporter responded that her claim wasn’t what Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has said about the bill.
“Well I think that is not based in fact, what the Governor of Georgia has said, so, no, our tone is not changing,” Psaki responded. “We have concerns about the specific components of the package, including the fact that it makes it harder, and more difficult, for people to vote by limiting absentee options, by making it not viable, not possible, for people to provide water to who are in line, by not standardizing longer hours, so if you’re making it harder to vote, no we don’t support that.”
The Washington Post awarded Biden four of its famous “pinocchios” for his claim concerning voting hours in the Georgia election bill. The Post awards a “Pinocchio” — whose wooden nose grew longer with each lie — to political figures who make false claims, with four being the highest number for the most blatant of lies.
The bill, aimed at preventing voter fraud, was signed into law by Kemp on Mar. 25 after intense criticism from Democrats over concerns of voter suppression. Former President Donald Trump praised the bill, saying, “They learned from the travesty of the 2020 Presidential Election, which can never be allowed to happen again. Too bad these changes could not have been done sooner!”