Stacey Abrams, the Georgia state legislator-turned-voting rights activist currently running as the Democratic pick for governor in her state, sounds distinctly ready to tackle the destruction wrought by the policies of Republican leaders. Recently, now failed Republican gubernatorial contender David Perdue said Abrams, who is Black, was “demeaning her own race” — a jarringly racist remark to which Abrams responded on MSNBC.
Abrams used the opportunity of Perdue’s racism to rhetorically tear into Republicans for failing to “articulate a plan” for Georgia’s future. The same sort of observation could be applied to Republicans elsewhere too, really — within the GOP, there’s so much focus on so-called culture war issues, while in the real world, constituents of Republican officials have urgent needs that could be addressed if the officials did their jobs. Instead, you’ve got people like Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis attacking Disney and Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp helping enact essentially pointless new restrictions around elections. Abrams is set to run against Kemp — for a second time — in the November election. Abrams pointedly commented as follows:
‘I think that, regardless of which Republican it is, I have yet to hear them articulate a plan for the future of Georgia. I have yet to hear them talk about why they will not expand Medicaid and provide coverage to half a million Georgians. Just across the street, at the capitol, they passed a mental health parity law that will create parity in health insurance to get you mental health. The problem is 1.5 million Georgians don’t have health insurance… which means the poorest among us who are in the most desperate need of help are still being told by this governor and this Republican Party, “We will not help you; you don’t deserve our support.”‘
“I will stand on my record. I will stand on my work,” Abrams added. “And what I will tell you is that I love Georgia. I’ve been to every single county in this state, and what I hear from person after person after person is they just want a chance to thrive. And I challenge every Republican to stop focusing on a little bit of rhetoric and actually show me in your record where you are serving Black farmers, instead of suing to make certain they can’t have access to the resources they’ve been begging for for 40 years. Show me where you are showing up in communities that are grappling with not only gun violence but with hunger and [where] you’re solving that problem.” Check out Abrams’s comments below:
Stacey Abrams responds to Perdue saying "she is demeaning her own race": "Regardless of which Republican it is, I have yet to hear them articulate a plan for the future of Georgia. I have yet to hear why they won't expand Medicaid and provide coverage to half a million Georgians" pic.twitter.com/UrNnJgaZKa
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 24, 2022
Of course, Republican officials in certain corners of the party have also been obsessively focused on lies about the last presidential election — Perdue is a strong supporter of such lies, and he had Trump’s support in the primary against Kemp. Hilariously, Perdue ended up losing the primary this week by a margin of over 50 percent, marking yet another occasion — after similar outcomes for Trump-backed candidates in Idaho and Nebraska — when the ex-president’s pick has fared badly in a gubernatorial race.
A Donald Trump endorsed candidate has now lost a GOP gubernatorial primary for the third week in a row. Herbster lost in Nebarska on May 10, Janice McGeachin lost last Tuesday and David Perdue will lose tonight.
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 25, 2022
