President Biden on Tuesday dismissed plans by voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams to not attend his major speech on Democrats’ legislation to overhaul the nation’s election laws.
Mr. Biden insisted there was not a rift between him and Ms. Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party who is running for governor in Georgia.
“I spoke to Stacey this morning. We have a great relationship. We got our scheduling mixed up. … We’re all on the same page,” he told reporters.
When asked if he was insulted that Ms. Abrams was skipping his speech, Mr. Biden responded, “I’m insulted that you asked that question.”
Several civil rights groups are boycotting the event, accusing Mr. Biden of engaging in a photo op while failing to develop a concrete plan to get voting legislation passed in the evenly split Senate.
Mr. Biden is championing Senate Democrats’ plan to blow up the chambers’ longstanding filibuster rules to force through a pair of partisan election bills.
Among the groups who are not attending are civil rights groups Black Voters Matter, the New Georgia Project Action Fund, the Asian American Advocacy Fund and the GALEO Impact Action Fund, which represents Latino voters.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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