Stacey Abrams Talks Election Results With Stephen Colbert
It's Incredibly Gratifying to Watch Stacey Abrams Break Down How She Helped Flip Georgia Blue
Stacey Abrams isn't one to take breaks. During a Monday night appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the former Georgia state representative admitted that she celebrated Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election for a mere 17 minutes on Saturday afternoon before snapping back into work mode.
"[I've] gotta get back to work," Abrams said. "We've gotta win two Senate races. I can't dawdle too long." The two Senate races she's referring to are both taking place in Georgia and will ultimately decide which party has control of the US Senate. Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler failed to secure more than 50 percent of the vote against their respective Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, so both races are headed for runoff elections on Jan. 5, 2021.
Abrams played an instrumental role in flipping Georgia in Biden's favour during the election, working tirelessly to help the traditionally red state choose the Democratic candidate for the first time since 1992. When host Colbert asked Abrams exactly how she accomplished this, she broke it down for viewers, making sure to credit fellow organisers who've been aiding in the shift for years.
"My part was that when I became Democratic leader in 2010, I started building an infrastructure to focus on registration, on recruiting and training staff, on making certain we were in every single county, and I advanced that through multiple cycles," she said. By 2018, she raised $40 million for her gubernatorial race, and after losing to Republican Brian Kemp, she continued raising funds to keep up the momentum and invest in Democratic candidates for races across the state. Through two organisations she founded, Fair Fight and the New Georgia Project, she helped galvanize two million voters "who understood that their voices were needed and they showed up."
"Oh, did I mention Trump is leaving? That's a big win."
When later asked how she feels about Biden coming out ahead, Abrams responded quite candidly, not holding back her feelings about Donald Trump: "There is an orange menace of putrescence who will no longer be able to occupy the White House. That's a big deal. There is an incoming president who has moral leadership and character and who actually believes in science and facts. We have seen the change in the face of leadership by adding Kamala Harris so women at large and women of colour in particular can see themselves in the highest positions in the land. And oh, did I mention Trump is leaving? That's a big win."
