Supporters of former President Donald Trump were upset with Merrick Garland on Sunday following the US attorney general’s comments on voting access during a speech in Selma, Alabama.
Garland, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, traveled to the historic city to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the 1965 event referred to as “Bloody Sunday,” during which Selma police officers assaulted demonstrators marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge as part of a larger African American civil rights movement.
Addressing the congregation at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Garland discussed the ongoing challenges to the voting rights.
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“That’s the reason the Justice Department is pushing back,” Garland stated. “One of the initial actions I took upon assuming office was to increase the size of the voting section of the civil rights division.”
We oppose the implementation of unfair, excessive, and unjustified restrictions on ballot access, such as those concerning mail-in voting, drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.
Garland’s suggestions for increasing voting access have frequently faced criticism from governments led by Republicans.
Efforts made afterwards to limit them have faced criticism for potentially reducing the voting power of marginalized communities.
They have faced criticism from former President Donald Trump, who has made baseless allegations that these tactics were employed by his rivals to commit extensive voter fraud, which he inaccurately attributes to his defeat against President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Despite being widely discredited by Democrats and independent experts, supporters of his “Make American Great Again” (MAGA) movement have embraced these ideas and reacted strongly to Garland’s comments from Sunday.
“Merrick Garland’s recent statement suggests that the Biden administration plans to engage in fraudulent activities during the 2024 election,” former Fox News producer Kyle Becker stated in a post on X, previously known as Twitter.
The Attorney General under the Biden administration criticized election integrity measures such as voter IDs and dropbox bans as being discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary.
This is how individuals who are dishonest communicate. It’s all settled.
Garland Criticized for Voter ID Claims
“Attorney General Merrick Garland makes false claims once more, stating that election integrity efforts like voter ID requirements and restrictions on ballot ‘drop boxes’ are deemed ‘discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary,'” a user named “Proud Elephant” stated. Do these individuals ever speak honestly?
AG Merrick Garland addresses a group of individuals at a Selma church service, emphasizing his efforts to stop voter ID laws, which he describes as discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary.
Collin Rugg, one of the co-owners of the Trending Politics news website, penned. It is discriminatory to assume that black individuals are unable to obtain an ID.
Contrary to Rugg’s claim, voter ID laws have faced criticism for many years as being widely discriminatory.
Opponents, such as the League of Women Voters (LWV), argue that these laws unfairly affect Black, Native, elderly, and student voters.
In many cases, these laws are believed to disproportionately affect communities with lower rates of photo identification, without significantly reducing fraud.
Newsweek contacted the Department of Justice (DOJ) via email on Sunday evening to request a comment. Any feedback received will be incorporated into this story in a future update.