President Biden accused Republicans of offering “fear and lies and broken promises” during remarks at a virtual Democratic National Committee event Monday evening, even as he touted a bipartisan infrastructure deal making its way through the Senate.
“We won in 2020 as a unified party, and as we look to 2022, we need to stay unified. The question the American people are going to be asking is whether we’re helping them and their families and do we understand what they’re going through, do we understand their problems, can we deliver for them,” Biden told the participants at the virtual fundraiser Monday evening.
“We just have to keep making our case,” Biden continued. “The Republican Party today offers nothing but fear and lies and broken promises. We have to keep cutting through the Republican fog that the government isn’t the problem and show that we the people, we the people, are always the solution.”
Biden’s comments offered a preview of sorts of how Democrats will look to attack Republicans as the 2022 midterm elections draw closer.
Biden mentioned his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed in March as well as the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which he said would create well-paying jobs and boost American competitiveness. Senators unveiled the text of the $1.2 trillion bill late Sunday evening. The bill was a result of negotiations between White House officials and a bipartisan group of senators and will represent a major accomplishment for Biden if it passes.
“I had to make some compromises, but it’s going to make a gigantic difference,” Biden said. “For example, it’s going to transform the economy. It’s over a trillion dollars. It’s going to eliminate all lead pipes in America so people have decent drinking water.”
Biden said it was critical for elected officials to prove that democracy can function in the U.S. — a theme he often emphasizes in public speeches — before appearing to mention the infrastructure deal again.
“That’s why we have to do some of this stuff together with others to get it done,” Biden said.
The president also used the remarks to offer a forceful defense of voting rights and decree what he described as an effort by Republican lawmakers “to decide whether a vote counts.”
“The single most important thing that we have to do is we have to protect the voting system, protect the sacred right to vote. It’s under assault in ways I haven’t seen in my entire career, and I was the guy who was able to get the Voting Rights Act extended 25 years before when I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” Biden said.
“It’s about who gets to vote and whether the vote counts and who gets to count that vote,” he continued. “What Republicans want to do is say a political party gets to decide whether a vote counts. It’s outrageous. We’re going to fight like hell so that doesn’t happen. That is one of the most important things we can do.”
Despite Biden’s rhetoric, efforts to pass voting legislation have stalled in the Senate after Republicans blocked the consideration of the For the People Act, a sweeping election reform bill, earlier this year. The developments have revived some calls on the left to end the legislative filibuster.
Biden’s appearance at the virtual fundraiser is one of a few campaign-related appearances he has made since taking office in January. Biden appeared at his first in-person campaign event last month when he stumped for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D), who is facing off against Republican Glenn Youngkin in the upcoming governor’s race.