Stacey Abrams responds to racist Perdue comments by taking the high road -- and focusing on issues

Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D-GA) made an argument over the weekend that she wants to make Georgia great again. Republicans immediately pounced on her speech, saying that Abrams claimed Georgia was a terrible place to live, but former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) took it to a whole different level.

While trashing Abrams, Perdue went so far as to say she should go back to where she's from and called her a disgrace to her own race. Abrams responded to the comments while speaking to Joy Ann Reid, who is in Atlanta for the primary race on Tuesday.

"I find it very hard to believe that David Perdue is the great advocate for Black people in Georgia, but he's gone back to some 1950s phraseology about demeaning your race," noted Reid.

Abrams called Perdue out and asked for his work for Georgia while he was serving in public office or otherwise. Perdue spent years in the private sector where, in one job, he closed four plants in Georgia and shipped jobs to China to save money. He's faced accusations of corruption after he took $42 million to sell Dollar General after allegedly lying to shareholders. The company had to settle the lawsuits for $40 million at the time. When he came into public office, Perdue won the award for the largest number of stock trades while in the Senate. He was accused of dumping stocks ahead of the pandemic.

"I think that regardless of which republican it is, I have yet to hear them articulate a plan for the future of Georgia," said Abrams. They're running on rhetoric, she explained, but she's demanding to see the results. "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 help. The problem is 1.5 million Georgians don't have health insurance."

"We're number two in the nation for the uninsured, which means the poorest among us and in the most desperate need of help are still being told by this governor and the Republican Party — we will not help you," she continued. "You don't deserve our support. I will stand on my record and I will stand on my work and I will stand in the space where I have lived."

She noted she's traveled around the state and has heard from person after person that they just want a "chance to thrive."

"I challenge every Republican to stop focusing on the 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 that they have been begging for more 40 years," said Abrams. "Show me where are you showing up in communities that are grappling with not only gun violence but with hunger and you're solving that problem. Tell me how you're going to make certain that families that need rental assistance will get it because Brian Kemp has kept millions of dollars out of the hands of families in the middle of the pandemic."

Kemp was happy to help corporations, she explained, but unwilling to help their workers.

She closed by saying that her phrasing about making Georgia better may have been inelegant but she has a record to back it up and neither Kemp nor Perdue can.

See the video below or at this link.

Stacey abramsyoutu.be