Fox News contributor compares policies to expand voter registration and access to 9/11

Fox's Liz Peek: “George [W.] Bush talked about a failure of imagination accounting for 9/11. This is Republicans’ failure of imagination.”

Written by Eric Kleefeld

Published

Fox News contributor Liz Peek wildly exaggerated the effects of a Biden administration executive order aimed at protecting voting rights and expanding voter registration and access — which, according to Peek’s telling, represents a looming political threat tantamount to the deadly terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

During a Fox Business appearance promoting her opinion piece on Fox Digital, Peek latched onto an executive order issued by President Joe Biden in March 2021 calling on federal agencies to “promote voter registration and voter participation” and to assist “in a manner consistent with all relevant State laws” with distributing and filling out voter registration and vote-by-mail application forms. In Peek’s telling, this means federal employees would directly supervise people “filling out their early ballots,” seemingly in a nefarious plot to force them to vote for Biden. (In reality, the only references in the executive order to providing direct assistance to voters have to do with registration and application forms, not actual ballots.)

“And I think, again, you know, George [W.] Bush talked about a failure of imagination accounting for 9/11,” Peek said. “This is Republicans’ failure of imagination. Who could imagine that you’re going to have this number of people out there working on behalf of Joe Biden?”

In fact, Peek's misleading characterization of the Biden administration’s efforts to expand voter registration and access as threats to democracy inverts the reality in which presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s political allies, through an initiative called Project 2025, actually do intend to remodel the federal government into a right-wing political machine if he is elected again in November.

From the April 9, 2024, edition of Fox Business’ Varney & Co.

STUART VARNEY (HOST): Let’s get back to politics, and Liz Peek, still with us here in New York. The op-ed she just wrote, “Biden’s stealth but clever strategy to maintain control of the White House,” end quote. You say Biden’s going to do whatever it takes to win. Like what, Liz?

LIZ PEEK (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Well, we’ve seen that he’s willing to throw his opponent in jail. But beyond that, he has, he issued early in his presidency, like in March of 2021, an executive order that commands — commands — every single federal agency basically to loose their federal employees to register voters, and to use their agencies to promote voter registration, including assisting people filling out their early ballots, filling out their applications for early ballots, etc. It’s a pretty — it’s actually an unbelievable thing. It has been challenged by some Pennsylvania lawmakers. It probably will be heard by the Supreme Court. Whether it’ll get there in time to stop this, I don’t know.

But, Stuart, there are 3 million federal employees. A report by a group of 50 left-leaning organizations reported that if this was done right, they could register over 3 million new voters. I mean, I don’t think Republicans have any idea what they’re up against. And I got to tell you with the Hatch Act, remember that, that was supposed to make electioneering illegal by federal employees, apparently that’s only if you’re in uniform or on duty. So all of these people — I mean, this is an incredible thing.

And I think, again, you know, George [W.] Bush talked about a failure of imagination accounting for 9/11. This is Republicans’ failure of imagination. Who could imagine that you’re going to have this number of people out there working on behalf of Joe Biden?

VARNEY: And they’ll go that far to win.

PEEK: Yeah.