Abrams Claims She Never Denied Outcome of '18 Election, So GOP Finds 35 Times She Did
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams recently said she “never denied” that she lost her 2018 race to Republican Brian Kemp, but the GOP found at least 35 times that she did.
Abrams is running against Kemp again in this year’s governor’s contest.
Appearing on ABC’s “The View” last month, Abrams said, “I have never denied that I lost. I don’t live in the governor’s mansion; I would have noticed.”
She acknowledged that there is a video clip floating around in which she said she won, but that it was taken out of context.
“What I was referring to is that we won terms of communities, that were long left out of the electoral process, finally participated in ’18 at outstanding numbers,” Abrams said.
Democrat Stacey Abrams responds on “The View” to criticism that she didn’t accept her loss against Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA):
“We won in terms of communities, that were long left out of the electoral process, finally participated in ’18 at outstanding numbers.” pic.twitter.com/AZ9rN0T2As
— The Recount (@therecount) September 14, 2022
She went on to suggest that Kemp signed new election legislation last year that disadvantaged minorities.
However, last month a federal judge, appointed by former President Barack Obama, ruled against Fair Fight, a group associated with Abrams, finding Georgia election laws do not deny citizens of their constitutional right to vote, the Associated Press reported.
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Abrams was an outspoken opponent of voter reform legislation that, among other changes, required those applying for mail-in ballots to provide a driver’s license or voter ID number.
Additionally, ballot drop boxes were moved inside polling locations and only made available during voting hours. Georgia also now prevents local governments from accepting grants from the private sector to aid in conducting elections.
Under its new rules, the Peach State increased the minimum number of days of early voting to 17 and allows no-excuse mail-in voting as long as a voter provides an ID number.
In May a record number of Georgians participated in the midterm primary elections.
So Abrams’ charge that the legislation would lead to voter suppression did not appear to play out.
The Republican Party assembled a list of 35 instances in which Abrams claimed in various ways the 2018 governor’s election was not legitimate.
She did not concede the race, only saying Kemp received more votes and therefore was the legal winner, but not the legitimate one.
In a March 2019 interview, Abrams said, “we were robbed of an election.”
That same month, she said at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, that she did not believe using words like “rigged” or “steal” was dangerous because “we can actually back it up.”
The following month at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention in April 2019, she flatly stated, “I do have one very affirmative statement to make. We Won!”
Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream pressed Abrams this past weekend about that 2019 claim.
As with her appearance on “The View,” the candidate responded that she meant they won in the sense that many more minorities voted.
Democrat Stacey Abrams is confronted over her repeated claims she actually won her 2018 election loss and calling that election “stolen.”
She has no answer. pic.twitter.com/rhfDC7fg0o
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 9, 2022
In May 2019, Abrams reportedly said, “We don’t have to concede elections anymore, because when we concede, we are condoning systems that are used to oppress us.”
And the list goes on.
BIG yikes. https://t.co/TLnoNzYrqS
— GOP (@GOP) October 13, 2022
Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler, like the GOP, was able to locate many instances when Abrams said she was the winner or that Kemp did not legitimately win the race.
He concluded while the Democrat acknowledged in 2018 that Kemp was certified as the winner, “a review of numerous interviews shows that Abrams subsequently used language denying the outcome of the election that she now appears to be trying to play down.”
