Stacey Abrams Blows Off Joe and Kamala in Georgia

CLAY: Buck, we got an interesting story that’s gonna be playing out here a little bit after we go off the air today. Joe Biden is traveling to Georgia to talk about his attempt to get new voting bills passed through the Senate by ending the filibuster. Now, of course — at least ending the filibuster for purposes of changing these laws, which we talked about it yesterday, I believe.

The odds of these being legal, constitutional, and upheld based on recent Supreme Court jurisprudence as it pertains to state rights to manage federal elections are very low. But they’re trying to send a message — after they dragged Biden across the finish line — that it’s a fundamental threat to our democracy that all these states went back and said, “Hey, let’s avoid the chaos that existed in the 2020 election, when all of the rules got changed.”

Well, it’s interesting because Georgia is gonna be a battleground — and we talked about this, Buck — where Stacey Abrams might have an interesting opportunity here because if Biden’s not gonna run in ’24, then Kamala Harris would have to be the nominee, otherwise it would be racist or sexist of the Democrats to not pick a black woman based on their entire party platform, which is “everything is racist.” She would clearly be the next person up for that job.

So Stacey Abrams said that she did not have time. She had a schedule conflict. So she’s not going to be at Joe Biden’s speech that he is doing in Georgia. She’s running for governor again. What do you think about this, Buck? Is this a sign that Stacey Abrams maybe is angry that Joe Biden didn’t pick here as the nominee? Certainly, I think at minimum, it is a sign that his overall approval rating in the state of Georgia is really low, and she doesn’t want to be photographed with him or videoed with him. What’s going on here?

BUCK: I think there is an understanding that Joe Biden right now doesn’t bring much in the way of upside. He served his purpose, Clay. We’ve talked about it here before. To be a guy that people knew who was — because he was so mediocre but also so known he was somewhat nonthreatening at a time when the country had gone through the maximum, not just the actual problems of covid virus but then the mountains of unnecessary fear and anxiety piled on top of that.

So Biden served his purpose then. No one watches Joe Biden now and says, “Yeah, I want that guy pushing for me!” No one views Joe Biden and says, “This is somebody who is going to have a political capital that will transfer to my aspirations.” That’s what I think this really is right now. Why…? I mean, we can answer the question pretty obviously.

What would Stacey Abrams gain right now from having Joe Biden so close to her on an issue like this when really people are already talking about how maybe she steps into the limelight, so to speak, herself. Maybe she all of a sudden becomes — which is amazing! She’s never even won a statewide office. (laughing)

CLAY: That’s right.

BUCK: She’s the fake governor of Georgia, but that doesn’t actually count.

CLAY: And she wasn’t even that close, Buck. She lost by 50,000 votes.

BUCK: Yeah.

CLAY: She’s continued to refuse to concede. But she’s trying to run again as the governor. I just think it’s an incredible indictment of where Biden is as the leader of the Democratic Party right now that he’s going to Georgia and the most famous, I would say, Georgia politician — even though, to your point, Buck, she hasn’t actually won an election. I think people recognize her name more than they recognize Ossoff or Warnock, who were the two guys who ended up getting elected to the Senate. It’s a sign of how toxic Joe Biden is that she won’t even appear with him in the backyard there of her state.