Biden warns Georgia to 'smarten up' and 'stop it' or risk losing more woke businesses over voting law



President Joe Biden sided with woke businesses like Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines in their criticism of Georgia's new voting law on Tuesday, telling the Peach State it needs to "smarten up" and "stop it" or else risk losing more business.

What happened?

The president — who was caught last week telling an outright whopper of a lie about the new election reform measure — continued to pillory the law while speaking with reporters on Tuesday, again wrongly branding it the "new Jim Crow."

When a reporter asked whether the famed professional golf tournament "The Masters" should move out of Georgia in protest, Biden said, "I think that's up to the Masters," before launching into an offensive about the law.

"Look, you know, it is reassuring to see that for-profit operations and businesses are speaking up about how these new Jim Crow laws are just antithetical to who we are," he said.

Though he noted, "There's another side to it, too. The other side to it too is: When they, in fact, move out of Georgia, the people who need the help the most — people who are making hourly wages — sometimes get hurt the most."

Yet despite acknowledging the woke business protest movement could ultimately hurt working-class people, Biden didn't admonish the companies, but rather Republican lawmakers in Georgia for forcing their hand. He added that he supports the companies in whatever way they decide to protest the law.

"I think it's a very tough decision for a corporation to make or a group to make, but I respect it when they make that judgment, and I support whatever judgment they make," he continued. "But it's — the best way to deal with this is for Georgia and other states to smarten up. Stop it. Stop it. It's about getting people to vote."

What else?

Biden has not been shy in his criticism of the new law, which aims to bolster the integrity of elections in the state in part by requiring photo ID for absentee voting and establishing secure drop box locations.

Earlier this month, he publicly backed Major League Baseball's decision to move this year's All-Star Game out of the state. And in March, during his first presidential press conference, Biden wrongly claimed that the law prevents working people from voting by shutting down voting after 5 p.m.

The latter earned a "Four Pinocchios" mark from Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler — the worst grade possible. In his assessment, Kessler noted that the law, rather than restricting voting hours, actually expands them.

WaPo hits Biden with 'Four Pinocchios' for whopper about new Georgia voting law



Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler slapped President Joe Biden on Tuesday with "Four Pinocchios" — the worst grade possible — for a whopper he repeated about the new election reform bill signed into law in Georgia.

What's the background?

A roster of liberal politicians, including the president, have grossly mischaracterized the new law — which aims to secure elections in the state by requiring photo ID for absentee voting and establishing secure drop box locations, among other things — as being crafted for the sole intent of making it harder for people to vote.

But perhaps the most blatant mischaracterization came last week during the first press conference of Biden's presidency. The president grew noticeably perturbed when discussing the legislation, calling it "sick" and alleging that it prevents working people from voting by closing off voting hours after 5 p.m.

"What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick ... deciding that you're going to end voting at five o'clock when working people are just getting off work," Biden said.

A day later, when responding to Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signing the bill into law, Biden said, "Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people can't cast their vote after their shift is over."

What did WaPo say?

In the fact-check article, Kessler found that the law put no such restrictions on voting. In fact, Kessler acknowledged, the new law maintains the current Election Day voting hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and actually expanded voting hours and days for early voting.

"So where would Biden get this perception that ordinary workers were getting the shaft because the state would 'end voting at five o'clock'?" he wrote, going on to pummel the president for openly misinforming the American people about the new law:

One could understand a flub in a news conference. But then this same claim popped up in an official presidential statement. Not a single expert we consulted who has studied the law understood why Biden made this claim, as this was the section of law that expanded early voting for many Georgians.

Somehow Biden managed to turn that expansion into a restriction aimed at working people, calling it "among the outrageous parts" of the law. There's no evidence that is the case. The president earns Four Pinocchios.

In an "About" page for his grading scale, Kessler explained that a Four Pinocchios mark is handed out for "whoppers," plain and simple.