Columnist backs 'Squad' member Pressley's push to lower voting age to 16
A Newsweek op-ed says Rep. Ayanna Pressley is right, 16-year-olds deserve the right to vote. Campus Reform's Cabot Phillips reacts.
A Newsweek op-ed backed freshman House Democrat Ayanna Pressley’s push to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.
The op-ed argued 16-year-olds being able to vote would be good for them and American democracy.
The author, Nancy Deutsch, wrote: “The skeptical attitude toward the next generation is especially baffling when we see teens like Greta Thunberg, or the students from Parkland, Florida, consistently demonstrate independent thought, deep understanding, clear convictions, and tremendous maturity and poise in the national and international limelight (even amid jarring criticism and judgment from adults).”
REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY PROPOSES LOWERING VOTING AGE TO 16, CLAIMS MATURITY NOT AN ISSUE
Pressley, D-Mass., proposed lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, a measure that failed in the House with just 126 votes in March. The member of the so-called "Squad" suggested concerns about “maturity” at that age should not be an issue.
Campus Reform’s Cabot Phillips weighed in Tuesday on "Fox & Friends," arguing that the push to lower the voting age is a political ploy to add more voters to the Democratic Party. Phillips asserted that education in college and high school in America is oftentimes biased.
“When you have a large part of Americans that are getting a biased perception of what’s going on in the political process, a lot of these 16 and 17-year-old kids have only heard one side from this point in their lives,” Phillips said.
“They feel that social pressure on social media, from their peers, from teachers. They would likely be voting for Democrats at this point in their life,” Phillips added.
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Pressley introduced the amendment to the For the People Act—a broad anti-corruption and voting rights bill which would allow Americans as young as 16 to vote in federal elections. The measure was her first proposed amendment in Congress.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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