Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (Ga.) on Sunday refuted criticism that she failed to properly concede the 2018 election, arguing she had acknowledged Republican opponent Brian Kemp as the victor.
Abrams, who is running in a rematch gubernatorial race against Kemp in November, told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Shannon Bream that she had only discussed challenges voters faced in the 2018 election when she refused to concede.
“I am clearly laying out the challenges that our voters face and the challenges our citizens face when we do not have a government that listens to them,” Abrams said of a 2019 video of her saying she had “won” the race. “I acknowledged that Brian Kemp won — I acknowledged it repeatedly in that speech.
“I very clearly say I know I’m not the governor, but what I will not do is allow the lack of nuance in our conversations to dull and obfuscate the challenges faced by our citizens,” the Democratic candidate added.
In 2018, Abrams narrowly lost the election to Kemp. Abrams refused to concede, citing a “rigged” system, although she also acknowledged Kemp would be the next governor of Georgia.
Abrams has rejected comparisons by Republicans between her election denialism and that of former President Trump’s, who continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen.
In an interview with Yahoo News last month, Abrams said Kemp won the election “but I will never say that a system that is broken — that denied people their right to vote — is the right thing to have in the state and as part of democracy.”