White Republican David Perdue Says Stacey Abrams Is ‘Demeaning Her Own Race’

david-perdue-racism.jpg Election 2022 Georgia Governor - Credit: Sudhin S. Thanawala/AP
david-perdue-racism.jpg Election 2022 Georgia Governor - Credit: Sudhin S. Thanawala/AP

David Perdue is desperate.

The ousted senator from Georgia currently running for the Republican Party’s nomination for governor is trailing incumbent Brian Kemp badly heading into Tuesday’s primary. He’s already eyeing a potential showdown with Democrat Stacey Abrams, however, and on Monday he tried to argue that he, not Abrams, knows what’s best for Black Georgians.

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“When she told Black farmers you don’t need to be on the farm, when she told Black workers in hospitality and all this you don’t need to be … she is demeaning her own race when it comes to that,” Perdue said during a radio appearance. “I am really over this. She should never be considered material for governor.”

There aren’t many people who’ve done more for Black representation in Georgia than Abrams, who nearly defeated Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election. She very well might have won if Kemp, then the secretary of State, wasn’t in control of Georgia’s voting systems. Abrams has since worked tirelessly to ensure voting rights for marginalized Georgians, an effort that helped turn the state blue in 2020. It was the first time Georgia voted for a Democrat for president since 1992. The state elected two Democratic senators two months later, including Sen. Jon Ossof, who unseated Perdue.

Abrams is making another run at the Governor’s Mansion this year and, having already secured the Democratic nomination, will square off against Kemp or Perdue this fall. Trump favors the latter because he feels Kemp betrayed him by not working harder to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election, although it has been reported that Trump has already given up on Perdue’s chances. Perdue landed Trump’s endorsement in the first place largely by basing his entire campaign on the baseless idea that Trump was robbed of a second term in office. When asked on Monday whether he would accept the results of Tuesday’s primary, Perdue said it “depends on if there’s fraud or not.”

Perdue made sure to remind voters on Monday that his campaign is also predicated on racism.

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