On Sunday, President Joe Biden gave a rather fiery commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Although Morehouse College President David A. Thomas threatened to put a stop to the ceremonies "on the spot" if there were prolonged interruptions, graduates still turned their backs on Biden during the address. Throughout Biden's remarks, it sounded more like he was at a campaign rally rather than a commencement address. This was especially as he told some egregious lies, particularly as it pertains to voting.
BIDEN: "Today in Georgia, they won't allow water to be available to you while you wait in line to vote in an election. What in the hell is that all about?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 19, 2024
That's a debunked lie. pic.twitter.com/ppYV7o1IJ9
Early on in his remarks, the president raised the role that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) played in getting him elected, as well as his narrow win in Georgia. "We won by 3,100 votes. We won by the thinnest of margins but with a broad coalition, including students from the best HBCU in America, Delaware State University. You guys are good, but they got me elected. And you all--you all think I’m kidding. I’m not kidding," Biden said to laughter.
Given that this was a commencement address, Biden did share at one point what were supposed to be inspirational remarks. They quickly turned to divisive remarks, including and especially to do with debunked narratives.
As Biden said at one point:
Leadership is about fighting through the most intractable problems. It’s about challenging anger, frustration, and heartbreak to find a solution. It’s about doing what you believe is right, even when it’s hard and lonely.
You’re all future leaders, every one of you graduating today. And that’s not hyperbole. You’re future leaders, all of you. You’ll face complicated, tough moments. In these moments, you’ll listen to others, but you’ll have to decide, guided by knowledge, conviction, principle, and your own moral compass.And the desire to know what freedom is, what it can be is the heart and soul of why this college was founded in the first place, proving that a free nation is born in the hearts of men spellbound by freedom. But the — that’s the magic of Morehouse. That’s the magic of America.
But let’s be clear what happens to you and your family when old ghosts in new garments seize power, extremists come for the freedoms you thought belonged to you and everyone.
But then, immediately after, he claimed that "today in Georgia, they won’t allow water to be available to you while you wait in line to vote in an election." To applause, he asked "what in the hell is that all about?" Despite how this has been a line many dishonest leftists have gone with many times before, which has been debunked, Biden went on to say "I’m serious. Think about it."
This has been the lie that never dies, ever since Georgia's SB 202 was signed into law back in 2021. Around the time that the bill was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), Townhall spoke with Honest Election Project's Jason Snead.
As the coverage of that conversation mentioned [Emphasis added]:
One of the law's critics is President Joe Biden himself. Snead was understandably frustrated over such lies, calling it "simply unbelievable" that the president doesn't have people who can read SB 202 to make sure he has his facts straight.
In addition to the lies that Biden told--which were awarded "four pinocchios" from the Washington Post fact-check--about limitations on early voting, critics love to lament preventing giving out water bottles to those on line to vote, which Snead calls "a distraction."
To set the record straight, the law prevents electioneering and the concept of line-warming. Partisans cannot hand out food or drink to voters on line, which then leads to campaigning. Voters, can, however, bring their own snacks and water bottles, receive them from election officials, or patronize food trucks 151 feet away.
Anti-electioneering "creates a zone of sanctity" for voting, to be able to "do so privately," Snead commented.
Strategist Josh Holmes also took to posting about the PolitiFact narrative and their ruling about the law at the time as well.
Here’s how the inquiry works: So they came at me with the same omission of the specific language in the statute that speaks to water being provided at a polling place, as if I’m some idiot who doesn’t do his homework. When I cite their omission all of a sudden the goalposts move.
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) March 30, 2021
When that didn’t stick she shifted to whether water was mandated by the statute. Again not one that I discussed on the show. My point was that providing water wasn’t outlawed - a talking point originated by Biden.
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) March 30, 2021
The reason it’s important is the intent of the law. If the provision outlawed water at the polls it could easily be construed as intending to deter waiting to vote. Instead, the statute specifically referenced the manner in which it could be provided. *not by political operatives
— Josh Holmes (@HolmesJosh) March 30, 2021
The woefully misunderstood law is also supported by Georgia voters. It's also far less restrictive than other states, including liberal ones.
As Guy mentioned when covering the law and its criticisms around the time it passed:
The law explicitly allows poll workers or election officials to make water available to voters in long lines, a problem that counties are now afforded more options to help mitigate. The freakout over the refreshment 'issue,' a talking point that instantly became ubiquitous, is vastly overblown. The new Georgia legislation effectively mirrors what numerous other states already have in place, including in the famous vote-suppressing, right-wing hell-scape of...New York[.]
Further, as the 2022 elections showed, when Kemp was reelected, any claims about disenfranchising voters is a total lie. Turnout exploded to its highest level for primary elections that year.
It wasn't just the RNC Research account that shared a clip Biden's remarks. The Biden HQ account, often prone to lying and misleading people, also posted the clip to promote the false narrative:
President Biden: Today in Georgia, they won't allow water to be available to you while you wait in line to vote in an election. What in the hell is that all about? And then the constant attacks on Black election workers who count your vote. Insurrectionists who stormed the… pic.twitter.com/wbG0q3nsNm
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 19, 2024
It wasn't merely that Biden lied about voting, though that was a particularly egregious example. He also brought up January 6, illegal immigration, and a supposed "national effort to ban books." As the president also said, per the official White House transcript:
Insurrectionists who storm the Capitol with Confederate flags are called “patriots” by some. Not in my house. (Applause.) Black police officers, Black veterans protecting the Capitol were called another word, as you’ll recall.
They also say out loud, these other groups, immigrants “poison the blood” of our country, like the Grand Wizard and fascists said in the past. But you know and I know we all bleed the same color. In America, we’re all created equal. (Applause.)
Extremists close the doors of opportunity; strike down affirmative action; attack the values of diversity, equality, and inclusion.
I never thought when I was graduating in 1968 — as your honoree just was — we talked about — I never thought I’d be in — present in a time when there’s a national effort to ban books — not to write history but to erase history.
They don’t see you in the future of America. But they’re wrong. To me, we make history, not erase it. We know Black history is American history. (Applause.)
It can't be emphasized enough that Biden and his fellow Democrats are obsessed with January 6, and with claims that those involved were "insurrectionists." It would seem that no place is sacred when it comes to giving that narrative a rest, college commencements included. Given Biden's own association with the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, it's a particularly rich retort to bring up "the Grand Wizard and fascists." Biden and Democrats also have a particularly bad habit when it comes to not distinguishing legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, an important distinction regardless of what you think of the "poison the blood" remarks.
That Biden brought up book banning in the context of "eras[ing] history" is also a low move, considering that what's really taking place is a matter of protecting minor children from being exposed to sexually explicit, adult content that their parents don't want them exposed to.
What a dishonest piece of sh—. https://t.co/h4fOxJllHx
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) May 19, 2024
For Biden to claim that his political enemies "don't see [black people] in the future of America is a particularly low and divisive move, especially at what's supposed to be such a celebratory event. To add insult to injury, Biden himself even posted such divisiveness, once more bringing up immigration.
While I’m fighting for comprehensive immigration reform, Trump calls immigrants “rapists” and “murderers.”
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 18, 2024
He says immigrants aren’t people.
Donald Trump wants a country for some of us. I want a country for all of us.
Imagine working hard for years to graduate from college and Joe Biden shows up on your day of celebration to remind you that you're a victim and America doesn't love you because you're black.pic.twitter.com/h3nEnN9q0l
— Adam B. Coleman, Proud Father (@wrong_speak) May 19, 2024
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