In April 2020, Karine Jean-Pierre reportedly tweeted, “Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams.”
Two years later, Jean-Pierre has become the White House press secretary… and she’s coming uncomfortably close to her old streak of election denial.
Jean-Pierre accused Georgia’s state department of voter “suppression.” She was presumably referring to Georgia’s 2021 Election Integrity Act, available online. Her boss, President Joe Biden, famously called it “Jim Crow in the 21st century.”
“You all have reported this, that there was suppression, that — that we saw that throughout — through that — throughout the Georgia election. So that is something that was reported on. So I leave it to those reports,” Jean-Pierre told a reporter, according to the White House transcript.
“Even with that, the American people came out. They came out in a historic fas- — fashion to make their voices loud and clear. When it comes to democracy, when it comes to protecting our democracy, when it comes to making sure that we’re protecting our economy, we’re protecting Social Security and Medicare, this is something that the American people spoke very loud and clear.”
In fact, Georgians turned out in record numbers for this year’s primary elections. 850,000 people voted in the early voting period, according to Georgia’s secretary of state. That figure marks a 212 percent increase from early-voting turnout in 2020.
The Election Integrity Act extended the early voting period.
Georgians submitted fewer absentee ballots this year than in 2020… but Georgians were dealing with a pandemic in 2020.
In fact, Georgia’s Election Integrity Act allows no-excuse absentee voting, and Georgians can request an absentee ballot online. In other words, Georgians likely find it easier to vote now than they did in 1992.
Some suppression!
Jean-Pierre is hardly alone in her scaremongering. Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer made a similar remark after Tuesday’s runoff election.
“Despite the efforts of the Republican legislature to make it harder to vote… Georgians voted,” Schumer said. “They said, ‘We’re not going to let these barriers stand in our way, even if we have to wait in line.'”
In reality, some Georgians credit the Election Integrity Act with ensuring “short lines, smooth easy ballot access, and confidence in ballot security.”
CHUCK SCHUMER: "Despite the efforts of the Republican legislature to make it harder to vote, our people voted." pic.twitter.com/gVx7XQMaZr
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 7, 2022
The Horn editorial team