U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, addressed the Senate on July 20 following President Trump’s recent speech questioning the legitimacy of past and future elections. Durbin sought to counter what he described as falsehoods about election security and criticized Republican-backed legislation that he said would make voting more difficult for many Americans.
“In a 25-minute rant, the President alleged sweeping foreign interference in voting and railed against the so-called ‘Deep State.’ He was actually railing against his own Administration. You see the 2020 election was during his first term… [Trump’s election denialism] claims would be laughable if they weren’t so dangerous,” Durbin said.
Durbin also referenced intelligence briefings from Trump’s presidency, saying, “First, the President was famous for not reading and requesting shorter and shorter versions of a brief provided by our intelligence community each day. He alleges the ‘Deep State’ misrepresented what actually happened to hide the information from him. Second, his then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, whom President Trump now has leading the Central Intelligence Agency, made public remarks addressing all the concerns in 2020. It’s hard to hide information you publicly discuss in press conferences.”
He addressed specific claims made by Trump regarding noncitizen voter registration: “Well, I sure want to see that evidence. I’m sure the American people do too. The President can’t produce it. It doesn’t exist… Election experts and state officials have called out this claim—one noting that it’s ‘wildly speculative at best’ and another saying that it’s based on ‘shoddy methodology,’ and predicting that ‘almost all… are actually citizens.’” Durbin cited previous findings by U.S. intelligence agencies concluding no foreign actor attempted to alter voter registration or vote counting in 2020.
Durbin warned about Republicans’ SAVE America Act currently under debate in the Senate: “We need to stop this effort immediately. We need to give the American people the last word in the election in November, not the President and his bizarre theories on who won in 2020.” According to Durbin, provisions within this bill could introduce new barriers for voters such as additional registration requirements beyond those satisfied by a REAL ID driver’s license.
The Senate Judiciary Committee serves as a standing committee with authority over judicial matters including civil rights protections nationwide; its responsibilities include reviewing legislation related to constitutional issues and overseeing federal law enforcement agencies, according to the official website.