New York Times columnist upset by some Black Georgia voters supporting Brian Kemp: 'God forbid'
Abrams has struggled to solidify support from male Black voters ahead of the midterms
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York Times columnist Charles Blow appeared alarmed at the possibility of a split ticket for some Black voters in Georgia as he said Monday, "God forbid" they vote for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in his re-election bid but also Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the gubernatorial race.
During a conversation about Georgia's tight Senate race between Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker, Blow claimed to the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that there was a lot of Black enthusiasm to vote against Walker.
Blow, a staunch progressive who wrote last month about his alarm over softening Black male support for Democrats, added the same level of enthusiasm does not exist in the governor's race between Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You can have some split ticketing on the ticket between the governor's race and Senate race, and it may in fact be Black people doing that, withholding a vote or, God forbid, voting for Kemp," he said.
Stacey Abrams, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia, speaks during a campaign event in Reynolds, Georgia, US, on Saturday, June 4, 2022. Abrams will face Georgia governor Brian Kemp in the general election on November 8, 2022. (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Blow also said "Black male activists" had a "bone to pick" with Abrams on small issues but that she's already made some headway on them.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Atlantic Journal-Constitution (ACJ) reported in September that Abrams was having trouble solidifying support from male, Black voters.
An AJC poll from September found that Abrams has 79% of support from Black voters; however, the outlet reported, "Democrats typically poll at least 10 percentage points higher." Abrams' support with Black men, according to the AJC, is at 75%, and is one of the key reasons she has consistently trailed Kemp in state surveys.
Blow also said a visit from Trump might help Walker, saying, "Kemp actually at this point, doesn't need the help, but Walker absolutely does need it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during his primary night election party at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame on May 24, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
"I think what Walker needs is to keep turning the lens away from his actual, you know, monumental faults and back towards placating Republicans into believing that they can do this unthinkable thing that they would not have done even ten years ago, but they will do now for Walker, to vote for a person who they know is not qualified to hold this job and who they know violates every principle that they here before said they stood for," Blow continued.
Former college football star and current senatorial candidate Herschel Walker speaks at a rally, as former U.S. President Donald Trump applauds, in Perry, Georgia, U.S. September 25, 2021. (REUTERS/Dustin Chambers)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Abrams recently told podcast host Kara Swisher that Kemp was as "vicious and as callous" as former President Trump. She ran unsuccessfully against Kemp for governor in 2018 and never officially conceded the race, declaring it was stolen from the voters by Kemp through voter suppression. However, those claims have come under greater media scrutiny as Georgia voter turnout was far higher in 2018 than 2014 and has continued to surge in subsequent cycles.
"He's getting this cloak of mainstream niceties, when he is as vicious and as callous and as aggressively opposed to our freedoms than every iteration of Donald Trump. In fact, he was Trump before Trump was," Abrams said.