Abrams still concerned about Georgia’s election

Stacey Abrams refused to utter the L-word.

As the Associated Press called the Georgia governor’s race for Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper was asking his opponent whether she felt the victor was “the legitimate governor-elect.”

Abrams, who had hoped to force a runoff with Kemp but conceded the race Friday, pivoted to her concerns about irregularities, voter suppression and an investigation during her campaign for her state’s highest office. She had accused Kemp of actions antithetical to democracy: of making it harder and in some cases impossible for certain groups of Georgians to vote.

So, with Abrams admitting Kemp was the winner, Tapper pressed during her first national interview since the election. He wanted to know whether she thought Kemp had a legitimate claim on the office, even as other Democrats publicly stated that the race had been stolen.

“The law as it stands says that he received an adequate number of votes to become the governor of Georgia,” she said. “But we know sometimes the law does not do what it should, and something being legal does not make it right.

“Yes, when he takes the oath of office, he will be the legal governor of the state of Georgia,” Abrams continued, using another L-word. “But what you are looking for me to say is there was no compromise of our democracy and there should be some political compromise in the language that I use, and that’s not right. What’s not right is saying that something was done properly when it was not.

“… Will I say that his election was not tainted, was not a disinvestment and a disenfranchisement of thousands of voters? I will not say that.”