The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump: Abrams’ Senate bid would be a ‘mistake’
Democrats urge her to take on Perdue after her response to president.
WASHINGTON — Roughly 12 hours after former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams dazzled Democrats with her prime-time State of the Union rebuttal, reigniting hopes that she’d challenge Georgia U.S. Sen. David Perdue in 2020, President Donald Trump urged her not to even bother.
In an Oval Office interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Trump on Wednesday said it would be a “mistake” for the ex-Georgia House minority leader to take on one of his top political allies.
“I think it’s a mistake for her to run against him because I don’t think she can win,” the president told the AJC and a group
of regional reporters in a wide-ranging exclusive interview.
“David Perdue is an incredible senator, if you remember, and will be very hard to beat,” he added.
Top Democrats have been feverishly courting Abrams to run against Perdue, a firstterm Republican and former Fortune 500 CEO, in the months since she halted her campaign for governor against Brian Kemp while refusing to call it a concession. Abrams has met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about the job and has given herself a March deadline to announce whether she’ll seek the seat.
Her 10-minute speech on Tuesday — which combined tales of her upbringing in Mississippi, the merits of bipartisanship in Georgia and biting criticism of Trump and Republican policies — drove speculation about her political future into overdrive. The address offered Abrams the biggest platform of her career and was seen as a test of her national appeal by Democratic leaders.
“She certainly didn’t lose any political capital from this speech, and I think there’s a really strong case to make that she gained political capital,” said Andra Gillespie, an Emory University political scientist.
‘Alternate reality’
Abrams’ speech steered clear of the gaffes or awkwardness that tripped up so many of her predecessors — such as Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s gulping of water and Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy’s too-glistening lips — and kept the focus instead on her competing political vision.
That assured that her rebuttal will be remembered more for the substance of her message, which Democrats celebrated and Republicans excoriated, than the optics around it.
The GOP pushback began long before her speech, with emails branding the defeated gubernatorial candidate “Sore Loser Stacey” and a 30-second video featuring snippets of her campaign-trail remarks that infuriated conservatives.
After the address came critiques of her liberal agenda, with GOP groups and officials lamenting her platform as another sign of the leftward tilt of the Democratic Party.
Julianne Thompson, who heads the state’s Women for Trump chapter, accused Abrams of presenting an “alternate reality” with dire talk of a bleak economy that contrasts with improving economic indicators.
And Brian Robinson, a veteran Georgia Republican strategist, said her strong stage presence should come as no surprise to voters who pay attention to local politics.
“But we’ve heard it all before here,” he said. “She successfully deepened and inflamed the crush that the American left has on her, but she didn’t win new admirers in Georgia. The dozens and dozens of declared Democratic candidates for president are probably very jealous of the stage she got tonight.”
Democrats were overjoyed. Her supporters packed more than a dozen watch parties across the nation and took to social media to urge her to run for higher office. Pundits praised her — “I liked that one better,” Anderson Cooper said of Abrams’ speech, comparing it with Trump’s — and party leaders gushed.
“She’s certainly no Bobby Jindal or Marco Rubio. That’s for sure,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson said, mentioning two of the recent Republicans who flubbed their rebuttals. “She did a great job. It was a solid performance, and she brought us back to reality.”
Abrams aimed to capitalize on the publicity. Her Fair Fight Action voting rights group sent out several fundraising pitches to supporters and touted its work on social media.
And she announced three more stops on a “thank you” tour that kicked off last month in Albany. On Thursday she’ll greet supporters in Savannah, followed by a trip next week to Gwinnett County. She’s planning an Atlanta event in March.
White House run?
Abrams’ smooth performance on Tuesday prompted some Democrats to urge Abrams to aim her political ambitions even higher.
Dan Pfeiffer, an influential liberal podcast host and a former aide to President Barack Obama, said following the speech that Abrams “should run for president.”
When asked about the prospect of Abrams making a White House run on Wednesday, Trump smiled and took a dig at her and other Democrats before reminiscing about his own ascent to the presidency.
“I’d love for her to run for president,” he said of Abrams. “Why? Because so far I’m liking the candidates and she’d be another one I’d like. To run for president, you’re supposed to have won, unless you’re a nonpolitician like me. I’d never ran. I’m one for one.”
Abrams is unlikely to run for president in 2020, although she previously disclosed it is a long-term goal. She’s done none of the early-state groundwork of other likely Democratic candidates, and her aides and allies say she’s focused on a potential run for the Senate or perhaps a 2022 rematch against Kemp.
Also during Wednesday’s interview, Trump echoed past comments about last year’s governor’s race, citing Abrams’ support from entertainment and political heavyweights such as Oprah Winfrey and Obama.
“They were out there a lot for Stacey Abrams, and all Brian Kemp had is Donald Trump,” he said. “And we won. Fairly easily, OK?”