(Headline USA) Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams claimed this week that her refusal to concede the 2018 governor’s race was nothing like former President Donald Trump’s attempts to challenge the 2020 presidential election.
Abrams, who lost in 2018 to Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, denied in an interview with 19thNews that she exhibited an election denialism similar to Trump’s. She claimed she was only making a point about voting access by accusing Kemp and the GOP of suppressing votes for her, while Trump claimed widespread fraud cost him his election.
“The issues that I raised in 2018 were not grounded in making me the governor,” Abrams said. “Not a single lawsuit filed would have reversed or changed the outcome of the election. My point was that the access to the election was flawed, and I refuse to concede a system that permits citizens to be denied access. That is very different than someone claiming fraudulent outcome.
“I will never ever say that it is OK to claim fraudulent outcomes as a way to give yourself power,” she continued. “That is wrong. I reject it and will never engage in it. But I do believe that it is imperative, especially those who have the platform and the microphone, to talk about the access.”
Democrats have tried to use Trump’s efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election against the GOP, arguing that election deniers pose a “threat to democracy.” But Republicans have pointed out that many Democrats, including Abrams, have participated in the same behavior.
In fact, Abrams refused to concede to Kemp and accused him of using his position as secretary of state to intentionally suppress Democrat votes so that she would lose the election.
Abrams is losing to Kemp by a significant margin, according to the polls. He is now up by 8 percentage points, whereas in July he was only leading Abrams by 1 point.
