Abrams denies accusation she refused to recognize Kemp as winner in 2018
Democratic organizer Stacey Abrams on Sunday pushed back on the accusation that she refused to acknowledge Brian Kemp as the winner of Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election, the same politician she is once again competing with for the governor’s mansion.
On Fox News Sunday, host Shannon Bream played a 2019 speech in which Abrams said “we won”, but Abrams said the clip was taken out of context.
“I acknowledged that Brian Kemp won – I acknowledged it repeatedly in that speech,” she said. “I very clearly say I know I’m not the governor, but what I will not do is allow the lack of nuance in our conversations to dull and obfuscate the challenges faced by our citizens.”
Abrams also pushed back on Bream’s claims that voter suppression is not a huge issue in Georgia after the Fox News host pointed to increased voter registration and a decision from a federal court earlier this month dismissing a challenge to the state’s new voting restrictions.
“Voter suppression is not about turnout. It’s about the barriers and obstacles to access,” Abrams said. “Voter suppression is when there’s difficulty registering things on the road, being able to cast a ballot and having that ballot counted.”
Abrams’s remarks came two days after she told the GOP-friendly Fox News digital that she would welcome both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the campaign trail as she enters the final stretch of her bid to oust Kemp, a Republican.
“Yes. We’ve reached out to – we’ve been in conversations with the Biden administration, and we look forward to having folks from the Biden administration, including the president himself if he can make it,” the former Georgia state house minority leader said.
Biden, whose approval rating is at 42.5%, has focused more on fundraising in the lead-up to the midterm elections, and has not yet appeared much at political rallies with candidates. Abrams raised eyebrows earlier this year when she declined to attend a Biden speech in Atlanta focused on voting rights, an issue she has spent her career elevating.
Abrams has consistently trailed Kemp in polling in the race ahead of next month’s election, which is one of the most closely watched in the US. The contest is a rematch from 2018, when Abrams lost to Kemp by 55,000 votes but said the race was tainted by voter suppression. It is also seen as the latest test of the influence of Georgia’s growing non-white and Democratic electorate.