'Can't win a fair fight': Hillary Clinton slams Trump's push for voter restrictions
Hillary Clinton delivered a sharp rebuke to the Republican Party and President Donald Trump over the push to pass the SAVE America Act. In an interview on the Democracy Docket, the former Democratic presidential nominee offered a simple explanation for the President's obsession with the legislation: the GOP can't win a free and fair fight in the elections. This comes after Trump put off signing a bipartisan housing reform bill, and House Republicans stalled a key defense bill to push for the legislation that critics argue will curtail voter rights.
The SAVE America Act has become a recurring source of chaos with Trump and House Republicans, repeatedly derailing and stalling unrelated legislation. After Trump's push, a dozen Republicans tanked a procedural vote for the must-pass defense bill to push the GOP's signature election bill. While the House has already passed the bill three times, it still falls well short of the necessary 60 votes needed in the Senate, with Democratic support needed to pass it. Reacting to the GOP's massive push, Clinton said, "[Trump] can’t win a fair fight and his Republican Party, which has become a cult answering only to him, can't win a fair fight," in conversation with Democracy Docket's founder Marc Elias.
The comments come amid a Republican rebellion to tighten voting restrictions. This week, the House of Representatives came to a standstill after lawmakers were unable to pass key pieces of legislation that keep Americans safe and the government's wheels turning, after 14 House Republicans tanked a procedural vote for the defense bill, demanding the SAVE America Act be passed, as per Axios. The GOP lawmakers have mounted pressure to abolish the filibuster and pass the bill, but the effort has gained little traction in the chamber.
With the rebellion, House Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly called a recess after the Republican lawmakers expressed anger over his strategies to pass the SAVE Act. In the aftermath, the Pentagon's annual must-pass defense policy bill was stalled after the House had already lost several voting days that would be difficult to make up.
The SAVE Act would make significant election and voting reforms, including a provision that would require photo ID at polling places and proof of citizenship before a person could register to vote. Under the legislation, election officials who register a voter without obtaining the required proof of citizenship could face criminal penalties, and the legislation will also introduce a process for people who have changed their names to submit additional documents to verify their identity. Trump and Republicans argue that voter fraud is rampant in the U.S. and that passing the legislation is common sense if Democrats have nothing to hide.
These provisions have been rejected by Democrats who argue the legislation would bar millions of eligible voters from casting their ballots. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal-leaning think tank, an estimated 21 million Americans do not have documents proving their citizenship readily available, and as per the University of Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, 2.6 million lack any form of government-issued photo ID. Thus, the bill has been stalled as to become law it needs to clear both the House and the Senate, and the GOP, even with a 53-47 majority in the Senate, doesn't have the 60 votes needed.
