Stacey Abrams wants White House support on the campaign trail ahead of next month’s Georgia gubernatorial election after snubbing President Biden in January
The Democratic contender said she is in talks with the White House, asking the administration to lend a hand in her battle against Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, who she lost to in 2018.
“We’ve reached out to — we’ve been in conversations with the Biden administration, and we look forward to having folks from the Biden administration, including the president himself if he can make it,” Ms. Abrams told Fox News on Friday.
“But we have to understand there are 36 governors races, there’s a little bit of a Senate kerfuffle going on, people are fighting hard, but we look forward to having anyone who wants to come to Georgia to help show up and show everyone what Georgia means,” she added.
Democratic candidates in Republican-leaning states have been apprehensive about campaigning alongside Mr. Biden, amid months of low approval ratings that have more recently begun to rebound.
Ms. Abrams was noticeably absent when she didn’t attend Mr. Biden’s January speech in Atlanta on voting rights. She said her absence was due to a scheduling conflict.
Her campaign lashed out amid speculation by Republicans that she was avoiding the president and criticism among reporters that her reasons for missing the speech were vague.
“Additional details about her private commitment will not end manufactured narratives by those unfamiliar with her work to help win the state for the Biden-Harris ticket along with her consistent advocacy for Biden Administration priorities,” Ms. Abrams’ spokesman Seth Bringman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in January.
“It’s a disservice to voters across the country and a waste of time and energy amid the fight of our lives for the freedom to vote that unnamed aides would spread false rumors rather than help build momentum for this once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead,” he added.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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