'He's a friend,' Biden says in response to fiery McConnell speech
President Biden appeared unfazed by the fiery criticisms Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) leveled against him in a Senate speech Wednesday, HuffPost reports.
HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic said he saw Biden "standing outside McConnell's office, meeting with a group of pages" after McConnell's speech.
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According to CNN's Ali Zaslav, McConnell said he "did not connect" with Biden when the president stopped by his office, and that he didn't care to, either.
"I think I said how I felt about what he did yesterday," McConnell told reporters.
McConnell called Biden's voting rights speech, which the president delivered Tuesday in Georgia, a "rant" that was "incoherent, incorrect," and "unpresidential." He accused Biden of making misleading claims about state voting laws, using overblown rhetoric, undermining confidence in American elections, seeking to steamroll Congress, and betraying his promise to unify the nation.
"[Biden's campaign slogan] 'Restoring the soul of America' has become this: 'Agree with me, or you're a bigot,'" McConnell said. "I've known, liked, and personally respected Joe Biden for many years. I did not recognize the man at the podium yesterday."
In his speech, Biden urged Congress to pass two federal voting rights bills that would supersede a wave of red-state election laws he referred to as "Jim Crow 2.0."
He also called for Senate rules to be changed to alter the filibuster and allow voting rights legislation to pass with 50 votes rather than the 60 currently required.
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