Former United States President Barack Obama criticized New Jersey governor nominee Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, for joining a "Stop the Steal" rally last year amid the 44th U.S. president's claims that GOP members are "systematically" stopping people from voting.
In a campaign speech for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Saturday, Obama said that Democrats nationwide were trying to make it easier for Americans to vote. He argued that in response to this, Republicans were pushing back to make it more difficult for regular citizens to make their voices heard.
Obama Against Republicans
The country's first Black president said that people should be asking Republicans why they did not want them to vote. When asked for examples of Republicans preventing people from voting, Obama's office did not immediately respond to comments.
The governorship race between McAuliffe and Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin is a dead-even fight. The situation comes as there is just a little over a week left before Election Day. The two nominees received 46% each among likely voters, based on data from the latest Monmouth University survey, Fox News reported.
In response, Youngkin's campaign said on Sunday morning that the Republican nominee has stated several times in the past that Obama was indulging McAuliffe's fantasies and lies. While the 44th president of the United States did not cite specific examples of GOP members' election laws, many Democrats have criticized legislation in several states, including Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas.
Obama joins other Democrats who are showing their support for McAuliffe, the most notable of which are United States Vice President Kamala Harris and first lady Jill Biden. On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden is expected to campaign with McAuliffe in Arlington.
One of Youngkin's controversial issues is his commitment to outlawing the teaching of critical race theory. The Republican vowed that if he was elected, he would also go "on offense" against abortion and ban it. "We all know education starts with a curriculum. We will teach all history, the good and the bad," he said, the New York Post reported.
Voter Fraud in Last Year's Elections
The situation comes after Obama rebuked Ciattarelli for the latter's claims that he did not know a rally he attended last year was a "Stop the Steal" rally. The 44th U.S. president's remarks were made during a campaign trail for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Saturday in Newark.
Obama called out Republicans for their continued voting rights legislation and those who have made baseless claims that the 2020 presidential elections were a fraud. The former president said that GOP members tried to rig elections themselves because the majority of the American population did not agree with their ideas. He said that when that failed, they then began making up lies, such as voter fraud in last year's elections.
"I didn't know I could just like after I got beat, I could just get up and say, 'No, I didn't get beat. No, no, no. The machines were broken," Obama jokingly said, citing his congressional election loss in Chicago, Newsweek reported.
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