'The Attack Is Underway': Dick Durbin Decries Republican-Backed Voting Laws After SCOTUS Decision

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:01]Thank you, Chuck.

[00:00:02]It happened again today.

[00:00:04]We had a hearing at the Judiciary Committee.

[00:00:06]Four Trump nominees came before us.

[00:00:09]All of them, [snorts] of course, lawyers licensed to practice law. Some of them even judges.

[00:00:14]We asked them questions, which is routine, but there's one question they just can't handle.

[00:00:20]Who won the election in 2020?

[00:00:22]They completely dissemble when you ask them the basic question that every eighth grader in America can answer.

[00:00:30]Joe Biden won that election, and he beat Donald Trump. The reason these nominees, Trump nominees, can't answer that question is because Trump is watching.

[00:00:40]He's watching.

[00:00:41]And he believes in his warped view and his big lie that he actually won that election.

[00:00:47]And these judges, federal judges for life, have to play along or they get their nominations yanked.

[00:00:54]That's the reality of the Trump White House when it comes to voting and elections.

[00:00:59]He's living in a fantasy land, which believes that he never loses anything, let alone an election for president.

[00:01:06]Well, that's why we're meeting here, because we're fearful of what this means for the next election cycle.

[00:01:11]Come November, the American people have a chance to exercise the most precious right of an American citizen, the right to vote in a free, honest, democratic election.

[00:01:22]But the attack is underway. We saw it with the SAVE Act.

[00:01:25]What the Republicans and Trump are proposing is to require Americans to re-register to vote, and to challenge each and every one of us in our right to vote.

[00:01:35]You say to yourself, "Well, what has happened that led to this?

[00:01:38]What could possibly be?

[00:01:40]How many people are actually voting illegally in the United States?"

[00:01:45]Well, we did a very careful survey.

[00:01:47]In a 20-year period of time, millions of people registered, multi-millions voted, and there were 77 questioned in the entire United States in a 20-year period of time. 77 voters out of the millions of votes cast.

[00:02:03]And you ask yourself, "Well, if it's only 77, what's the problem?"

[00:02:07]It gets back to something I learned in politics a long time ago.

[00:02:10]When it comes to political issue, there's usually a good reason and a real reason.

[00:02:16]The good reason given by the Republicans, we want an honest election.

[00:02:20]The real reason, they're scared to death of the November election. They want to do everything they can to stop Americans from voting, to discourage them and challenge them. That's why we're coming together. The right to vote is worth fighting for. People have fought for it, died for it, and shed blood for it. We know that this attack is underway, and we're going to be ready for it. Thank you, Senator Jeff.