Month: October 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Virginia can continue with its purge of more than 1,600 voter registrations ahead of next week’s general election, that state officials say are held by non-citizens. The emergency decision is considered a victory for conservatives in Virginia and can possibly affect other states.

In a 6-3 ruling, the high court reversed a lower court’s decision that put the program on hold and required the state to restore the voters in question to the rolls. The brief order noted that the three liberal justices on the court — Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor — dissented from the decision.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement: “This is a victory for commonsense and election fairness. Virginians can cast their ballots on Election Day knowing that Virginia’s elections are fair, secure, and free from politically-motivated interference.”

The Biden administration and purge opponents had won at the district court and federal appeals court levels before the Supreme Court reversed the injunction on Wednesday, allowing the purge to move forward.  The DOJ and other challengers said the purge was against federal law because it actually stripped eligible voters of their ability to vote, while opponents said those purged never knew they were taken off the rolls.

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Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday said she ‘strongly disagrees with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” with her remarks coming after President Joe Biden received backlash after his remarks in which he appeared to call Trump supporters “garbage” on a video call with Latino activists.

Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews before leaving for campaign events, Harris said that while Biden had “clarified his comments,” she added, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they voted for. You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career: I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not. And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.” (per NBC News).

In a video call with Latino activists Tuesday evening, Biden commented about the a joke made at a Trump rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, in which Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”  Biden seemed to reply: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable.”

After Biden’s comments drew heavy criticism from Republicans, the White House went on to send out a transcript in an attempt to clarify that Biden was not saying that Trump supporters were “garbage”, but simply tripped over his lines while meaning to say he was condemning Hinchcliffe’s remarks specifically.

Later in a post on X later Tuesday, Biden reiterated that what he said was in reference to Hinchcliffe: “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com