WATCH: Stacey Abrams Pushes Back at CNBC Host Who Asks if Elections Are ‘Still Rigged?’
Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams pushed back on CNBC host Joe Kernen when he asked if Abrams thinks elections in her state are “still rigged?”
Abrams was a guest on Wednesday’s edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss her book “Level Up,” as well as a variety of other topics.
Inevitably, the 2022 Georgia governor’s race came up. Abrams has just announced in December that she’ll run against incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in a rematch of their 2018 race, should Kemp survive a primary challenge from former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA).
“I know you’ve answered this question again and again, but I want to ask you a little bit differently because you continue to express kind of a nuanced view on what really happened in 2018,” Kernen said, referring to Abrams’ handling of the defeat in 2018.
He read a portion of a statement to CNN in which Abrams said Kemp “won under the rules of the game at the time, but the game was rigged against the voters of Georgia.”
“So I can tell you for a fact that Republicans are going to use this against you and ask you questions,” Kernen said, noting those attacks have already begun.
He asked Abrams “Is it still rigged, or do you think it’s at this point that it will be a fair election in 2022 in Georgia?”
Abrams answered at length, condemning voter suppression and promising to continue fighting it:
What I’ve always spoken to is the ability of voters to cast their ballots and have their ballots counted. There is not a single politician, including myself, who is entitled to win an election, and that was never my point. The point is we have to make certain that the voters have the ability to register and stay on the rolls, cast their ballots, and have their ballots counted.
And sadly, in 2021, in response to the safest election in Georgia history, we saw the promulgation of SB 202, which makes it harder for voters to participate in elections. That should always concern every American, especially every Georgian.
And I’m going to be working hard to make certain that the effects of that law are mitigated for every voter, regardless of who they intend to vote for when they get into the rolls, get to the polls.
Abrams went on to add “I can’t do a thing about what the Republicans or others are going to say, but I can be true to my word and I can do what I’ve done for the last four years as a private citizen, and that is work to make certain things are better for others.”
Watch above via CNBC.
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