Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2022

January 13, 2022

Voting Rights Legislation

Q. Mr. President, can you get your party on board?

Q. Is there a path forward, Mr. President?

Q. Mr. President, are you confident you can get this done?

Q. Mr. President, why can't you get these two votes?

Q. What is the plan B?

Q. Can you get this done?

The President. First of all, you all ask questions about complicated subjects like, "Can you get this done?" I hope we can get this done. The honest to God answer is, I don't know whether we can get this done.

Is this mike on? I guessâanyway. Andââ

Q. We're not sure.

The President. I'm not sure either.

But, anyway, I hope we can get this done, but I'm not sure.

But one thing for certainâone thing for certain: Like every other major civil rights bill that came along, if we miss the first time, we can come back and try it a second time. We missed this time. We missed this time.

And the State legislative bodies continue to change the law not as to who can vote, but who gets to count the voteâcount the vote. Count the vote! It's about election subversion, not just whether or not people get to vote. Who counts the vote? That's what this is about. That's what makes this so different than anything else we've ever done.

I don't know that we can get it done, but I know one thing: As long as I have a breath in me, as long as I'm in the White House, as long as I'm engaged at all, I'm going to be fighting to change the way these legislatures have moving.

Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:25 p.m. outside the Kennedy Caucus Room in the Russell Senate Office Building at the U.S. Capitol.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: U.S. Capitol. Locations: Washington, DC.

Subjects: Civil rights : Civil rights movement; Civil rights : Voting rights; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Elections : Voter participation.

DCPD Number: DCPD202200015.

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