ATLANTA – In a virtual discussion with the National Press Club today, Fair Fight Action Founder and Chair Stacey Abrams responded to President Trump’s comments made during an interview on Fox & Friends in which he said Congressional assistance for states to help cover the cost of elections amid Coronavirus would increased “levels of voting” and thereby hurt Republicans’ chances of victory. Her remarks are as follows:
“I want to address something that President Trump said earlier this week on Fox & Friends. He made a comment that if the states were given adequate funding to support elections through vote-by-mail and by expanding access to the vote, that Republicans would never win another election. This isn’t a partisan moment, but I want to point out that it is a deeply troubling sign when the President of the United States wishes for active, eligible voters to not have a chance for their voices to be heard. In a moment of crisis, leadership calls for standing up, not for keeping power, but for expanding access and reminding us of the nature of our democracy. It is deeply troubling that President Trump and his advisors believe that gaming the system is more important than supporting a system that brings everyone to the table. Voter suppression begins by believing that power is more important than people, and I am working hard to ensure that across our country we remind ourselves that access to the vote is how our democracy works. It is how our democratic republic was born, and it is how we sustain who we are.”
Her full remarks to the National Press Club are available here, with the above comments at 04:16. The U.S. Senate appropriated $400 million in its recently passed coronavirus stimulus package to help Americans vote amid this pandemic. This was an important down payment, but Abrams is encouraging the Senate to do more.
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