Skip to main content

Biden touts Stacey Abrams as a future presidential candidate in a speech in Georgia


US President Joe Biden has touted Stacey Abrams as a potential future president in a visit to Georgia marking his 100th day in office and selling his ambitious $4trillion spending plan.

The US leader said in a speech in Duluth, Georgia on Thursday that the voting rights activist “could be anything she wants to be, from whatever she chooses, to president.”

The politician and lawyer, who is believed to be considering another run for governor in 2022, is widely credited with helping to boost voter turn-out in the 2020 election, as well as the Senate elections which gave Democrats a bare majority in the Senate.

Biden, who marked his 100th day in office on Thursday, was the first Democrat presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Speaking at a drive-in rally, Mr Biden thanked Ms Abrams for “empowering people to vote and to make their voices heard”, as well as Georgia voters and new US Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff who helped get the Covid-19 relief plan passed in March.

He said: “We owe a special thanks to the people of Georgia. Because of you, the rest of America was able to get help. The American Rescue Plan would not have passed. So much have we gotten done, like getting checks to people, probably would not have happened, so, if you ever wonder if elections make a difference, just remember what you did here in Georgia ... You changed America.”

The visit follows the president’s first address to a joint session of Congress where he outlined a $1.8trillion ‘American Families’ social spending plan to be funded partly through increased taxes on the wealthy.

It follows the $2.3 trillion infrastructure package last month, bringing the two plans to just over $4trillion.

Abrams, who served in the state House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017 and was defeated in the gubernatorial race in 2018 by Brian Kemp, has been helping to lead attempts to raise awareness of changes to voting laws in Georgia which Democrats claim will restrict access to ethnic minorities.

She told the rally that it had been “100 days of greatness” with the Biden administration.

“We’ve got a 100 days behind us, but we’ve got a long way to go,” she said.

Republicans have launched a “ Stop Stacey “ campaign.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (L) walks US President Joe Biden and US first lady Dr. Jill Biden out after they after visited former US President Jimmy Carter, April 29, 2021, in Plains, Georgia (AFP via Getty Images)

During their visit to Georgia, President Biden and the first lady, Dr Jill Biden, paid a visit to former president Jimmy Carter, as reported by CNN.

President Carter missed Biden’s swearing in ceremony in January due to ill-health, the first one he has not attended since his own in 1977.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wray: FBI deemed Jan. 6 attack domestic terrorism

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that officials have classified the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by former President Trump Donald TrumpProsecutors focus Trump Organization probe on company's financial officer: report WHO official says it's 'premature' to think pandemic will be over by end of year Romney released from hospital after fall over the weekend MORE's supporters as domestic terrorism. "That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it’s behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism," Wray told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Wray said the FBI has received more than 270,000 tips from Americans that have helped the bureau identify the numerous people who allegedly participated in the attack. ADVERTISEMENT "Citizens from around the country have sent us more than 270,000 digital media tips. Some have even taken the painful step of turning in their friends or their family members,” ...

Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend to cooperate with federal authorities in sex trafficking investigation

Washington (CNN) Federal authorities investigating alleged sex trafficking by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz have secured the cooperation of the congressman's ex-girlfriend, according to people familiar with the matter. The woman, a former Capitol Hill staffer, is seen as a critical witness, as she has been linked to Gaetz as far back as the summer of 2017, a period of time that has emerged as a key window of scrutiny for investigators. She can also help investigators understand the relevance of hundreds of transactions they have obtained records of, including those involving alleged payments for sex, the sources said. News of the woman's willingness to talk, which has not been previously reported, comes just days after the Justice Department formally entered into a plea agreement with Joel Greenberg, a one-time close friend of Gaetz whose entanglement with young women first drew the congressman onto investigators' radar. CNN reported last week that investigators were pressing for the...

Biden Wants to Hire 87,000 Additional IRS Agents to Go After Wealthy Tax Dodgers

The Biden administration is proposing hiring 87,000 new workers for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), effectively doubling the agency’s size, as part of a plan to beef up enforcement efforts and find billions of dollars in tax revenues that go uncollected each year. Enforcement efforts would primarily target individuals and corporations with higher incomes and profits, the administration has suggested. The hiring, which would be part of President Joe Biden’s overall $80 billion spending plan to increase enforcement efforts at the IRS, would not happen all at once. Instead, it would be carried out in phases, with a 15 percent growth in employment at the agency per year until that 87,000 hiring benchmark is reached. The move would help recoup (and go beyond) some of the employment losses the agency has seen over the past decade, as the IRS has lost more than 33,000 workers over the past decade. The drop in employment at the agency has resulted in fewer audits, particularly for filers w...