Fact-Checking 6 Big Claims in Biden’s Partisan-Tinged Speech on Voting

In a major speech Tuesday, President Joe Biden linked voter ID requirements to repressive Jim Crow laws in the South after the Civil War, declaring it’s “not hyperbole” and insisting it’s time to ask: “Are you on the side of truth or lies?”

Biden delivered his fiery remarks at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia in opposition to state election reform laws.

The president said his Justice Department would bring civil actions against states because of their election laws and called on Congress to pass legislation to give the federal government control over election administration in the states.

Generally, Republicans say state reforms are designed to ensure fair and clean elections; Biden and other Democrats argue that Republicans want to suppress turnout.

Here are six of Biden’s claims and how they stand up to the facts.

1. ‘Jim Crow Assault’

Biden made some bleak historical comparisons, including one that has become familiar in recent months.

“The 21st-century Jim Crow assault is real. It’s unrelenting, and we are going to challenge it vigorously,” he said.

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