Washington Post analysis says Stacey Abrams 'played up' stolen election claims until it was 'untenable'

A Washington Post analysis said that Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams "played up" stolen election claims until it was "untenable" for people who advocate for "American democratic norms and values."

The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, editor and writer for The Fact Checker feature of the paper, wrote in a piece published on Thursday that Abrams' many claims that she "won" the 2018 gubernatorial election in Georgia, or her declaring that the election was "stolen" in 2018 look "different" now because of former President Donald Trump. 

"But what might have appeared at the time as a savvy appeal to voters who felt disenfranchised looks different now that Trump and his GOP allies have taken election denialism to a dangerous new level," he wrote. 

Kessler said she "played up claims the election was stolen until such tactics became untenable for anyone who claims to be an advocate for American democratic norms and values."

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Abrams was recently praised on "The View" for not conceding to Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., in 2018. "I have never denied that I lost. I don’t live in the governor’s mansion. I would have noticed," she said during her September appearance on the ABC show. 

Kessler noted multiple instances where Abrams claimed she "won" the 2018 election.

Abrams delivered a speech at the annual convention of Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in 2019 and said, "despite the final tally and the inauguration [of Gov. Brian Kemp] and the situation we find ourselves in, I do have a very affirmative statement to make: We won." 

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"Concession needs to say something is right and true and proper," Abrams said at the time. "You can't trick me into saying it was right."

Kessler also listed an example from 2021 where Abrams told Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that "Brian Kemp won under the rules that were in place."

"What I object to are rules that permitted thousands of Georgia voters to be denied their participation in this election or to have their votes cast out," she said. "My full language was that it was stolen from the voters of Georgia. We do not know what they would have done, because not every eligible Georgian was permitted to participate fully in the election." 

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Abrams told Axios in February that she would "acknowledge the victor" of the 2022 gubernatorial election and said she has never failed to acknowledge the legal outcome of an election. 

She said she doesn't ever want the American people to be in a place where they "cannot legitimately question" and criticize systems.