Barack Obama says the GOP is the only party that 'actively tries to discourage citizens from voting'
- Barack Obama said the Republican party "actively tries" to keep citizens from voting at a campaign rally.
- Obama made the comments in Pennsylvania at a rally for candidates John Fetterman and Josh Shapiro.
Former President Barack Obama said the Republican party is one of the only political parties that "actively tries to discourage citizens from voting."
Obama made the comments on Saturday at a rally also attended by President Joe Biden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro.
"It depends on you. Now Republicans know this, and that's why they're doing everything they can to prevent you from voting," Obama said. "This is one of the only major parties worldwide that actively tries to discourage citizens from voting."
When the audience began to boo, Obama responded: "Hey don't boo, vote! They can't hear you boo, but they'll hear your vote."
Since the 2020 election, Republican legislators have pushed to restrict voting, claiming it will combat widespread voter fraud. Since the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and his supporters continued to claim that the election was rigged, even as a group of GOP lawyers, senators, and judges had concluded there was no widespread voter fraud.
Trump has continued to repeat these debunked claims and has applied pressure on Republicans across the country to reform voting systems in their respective states. In 2021, 19 states passed 34 laws that restricted voting, according to The New York Times.
"So they pass laws to make it harder to vote. A lot of times, many of the elected officials or the people who are running to run elections right now are suggesting that maybe they would not count votes, nullify votes, overturn votes," Obama said.
Early voting numbers indicate it could be a record-breaking turnout with some 35.5 million voters casting their ballots thus far, according to US News.
"But the big tactic that they're gonna use because they always do this – especially in midterms, year after year, election after election, they will try to make you afraid. They will resort to fear. They want to scare the living daylights out of everybody, and most of the time, those fears have a very slender relationship to reality," Obama said.