McConnell condemns Biden fury over GOP voting reform as 'utter nonsense'

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Biden supports Texas Democrats despite running on being a 'bipartisan deal maker'

Fox News' Peter Doocy reports on the White House's response to lawmakers fleeing state to avoid a vote

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday condemned a fiery speech by President Biden as "utter nonsense" for alleging GOP voting reform laws were comparable to the Civil War. 

"This is our new president who promised to lower the temperature, bring America back together and rebuild a civil society where we can dialogue as fellow citizens," McConnell said from the Senate floor. 

"We’ve won two World Wars, faced down the Soviets, unwound brutal segregation, defeated actual Jim Crow laws, and endured the 9/11 attacks," he said. "But now the sky is falling?"

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McConnell’s exasperation was over an address given by the president Tuesday, where he called on congressional Republicans to help stop the "concerted" effort by GOP-led states to "undermine" the electoral process. 

"We’re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War," Biden said in a rebuttal to GOP calls for voter reform.

A national trend emerged in traditionally red states following the 2020 general election to address what some believed were lax voting regulations.

Some Republicans have alleged the expansion of mail-in voting during the pandemic left room for fraud – a suspicion heightened by Donald Trump’s accusation of a fraudulent election. 

Biden used a favored line by Trump when he told onlookers, "The ‘big lie’ is just that, a big lie."

"In 2020, democracy was put to a test," the president continued. "Because of the extraordinary courage of elected officials, many of them Republicans…democracy held."

But McConnell took issue with the president’s narrative and argued political debate over voter regulations is not comparable to historical tests the U.S. has endured. 

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"These false comparisons are an insult to the actual hurdles that Americans have overcome," McConnell said Wednesday. 

The minority leader further criticized 60 Texas lawmakers who fled their state to block the Republican passage of a voting bill. 

Texas Democrats have argued the legislation is suppressive and alleged GOP lawmakers stonewalled efforts of bipartisanship. 

"In reality, they’ve just come here to Washington to snap selfies, bask in the limelight and beg Senate Democrats to take over Texas elections," McConnell said. "More than 80 percent of Texans support voter I.D."

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"But Democrats have pulled out the same Chicken Little playbook that failed in Georgia. The same big lies," he said.

"The big lies and the fake outrage failed in Georgia. The big lies and fake outrage failed here in the Senate last month. They will fail in Texas," he added.