Reporter Asks Psaki if Biden’s Voting Rights Speech is ‘The Most Effective Use Of The President’s Time’

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked whether President Joe Biden’s major voting rights speech was “the most effective use of the President’s time?”

Ms. Psaki briefed reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday en route to Georgia, where the president and Vice President Kamala Harris were to speak in support of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

And while the president has faced pressure from voting rights activists who say he should have been spending more time pushing for voting rights earlier in his administration, one reporter wondered if the speech was the best use of his time:

Q: But, Jen, is it the most effective use of the President’s time that — he essentially needs the vote of two senators to get this passed. So, is a speech like this the most effective use of his time?

And were Senators Manchin and Sinema invited on this trip?

MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any more details. Obviously, the delegation with us today is from Georgia, primarily. So, that’s — and that’s pretty standard for travel.

In terms of whether it’s a good use of his time: Yes, the President, we, civil rights leaders, the delegation traveling with us today feel that it is a good use of the President of the United States’ time to use the bully pulpit to make the case for why voting rights, the protection of them, fighting against efforts by Republicans in 19 states and more to perpetuate the Big Lie and make it more difficult to exercise your fundamental right is something people shouldn’t stand for.

President Biden spent most of the first year of his administration dealing with the Covid pandemic and pushing for infrastructure and extensive social spending, but he pushed for voting rights publicly as well, including in his first address to a joint session of Congress.

Watch the clip above via The White House.