White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued Thursday that President Joe Biden was not casting doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming 2022 midterm elections at his latest formal press conference.
Biden, speaking at the White House on Wednesday, was asked whether he believes the upcoming elections will be legitimate and fair if his two election bills don’t pass. The president first said that it “depends on whether or not we’re able to make the case to the American people that some of this is being set up to try and alter the outcome of the election.”
Later, he clarified his stance on the situation by reiterating, “Yeah, I think it could easily be illegitimate.”
“The increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is a direct proportion to us not been able to get these reforms passed,” Biden declared, also noting that he wasn’t “going to say it’s going to be legit.”
Psaki pushed back on what Biden meant, tweeting Thursday morning that he “was not casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2022 election” and was, in fact, “making the opposite point.”
“In 2020, a record number of voters turned out in the face of a pandemic, and election officials made sure they could vote and have those votes counted,” Psaki tweeted, reiterating a comment about the number of voters made by Biden on Wednesday. “He was explaining that the results would be illegitimate if states do what the former president asked them to do after the 2020 election: toss out ballots and overturn results after the fact. The Big Lie is putting our democracy at risk. We’re fighting to protect it.”
He was explaining that the results would be illegitimate if states do what the former president asked them to do after the 2020 election: toss out ballots and overturn results after the fact. The Big Lie is putting our democracy at risk. We’re fighting to protect it.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 20, 2022
Biden’s comments echo that of other Democrats who have accused Republicans of blocking future fair elections. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for example, recently accused Republicans of wanting to “rig the game and rig the count” by preventing Biden’s bills. (RELATED: McConnell Blasts ‘The Left’s Big Lie’ As Schumer Prepares Another Voting Bill Push)
Psaki also went on Fox News on Thursday morning to clean up Biden’s comments, saying that she “talked to the president a lot about this and he is absolutely not predicting that the 2022 elections would be illegitimate.”
“The point he was raising was both that in 2020 even amongst challenging circumstances – efforts to suppress the vote, the midst of a pandemic – there was record turnout,” Psaki said. “Democrats and Republicans, record turnout to go to the polls. The point he was making is that the former president asked a number of states, seven or more, in fact, to overturn the outcome of the election.”
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“Now obviously if there is an effort to do that we’ve got to fight against it. That’s what our commitment is to doing but he was not making a prediction. He has confidence in the American people and we’re gonna do everything we can to protect people’s rights,” the press secretary added.
