Biden visits Selma, Alabama on Bloody Sunday anniversary

President Joe Biden visits Alabama on Sunday. On the agenda, a speech in favor of the extension of guarantees for the exercise of electoral rights.The trip is timed to coincide with the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, when state law enforcement used violence against a peaceful march by civil rights activists.Biden’s trip to Selma is meant to show his support for African-American voters, who remain a key part of his voting base ahead of the 2024 election.The trip comes amid Biden’s attempts to advance a voting rights bill that has met with resistance in Congress.The president is due to speak at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where in 1965 the military used batons and tear gas against voters, one of whom was activist John Lewis, who later became a congressman. Recall that the images that captured the incident then shocked the whole country.As White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday, the president “will emphasize that the ongoing fight for suffrage is important to ensuring economic justice for black Americans.”Biden is pushing for laws to help register new voters and strengthen Justice Department oversight of local election administrations. Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, do not support these proposals.