Biden calls for ‘getting rid of filibuster’ in Atlanta voting rights speech

President Joe Biden speaks in support of changing the Senate filibuster rules to ensure the right to vote is defended, at Atlanta University Center Consortium, on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

President Joe Biden says that he supports changing Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation, declaring that changing the rules would be to protect the “heart and soul of our democracy.”

Biden told a crowd in Atlanta that he’d been having quiet conversations with Senators for months over the two bills up for debate, stalled because there aren’t enough Republican votes to move them past filibuster to votes.

“I’m tired of being quiet!” he said, emphatically pounding the podium. “I will not yield. I will not flinch,” in the effort to protect democracy.