Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams accused President Donald Trump this week of habitually lying during the coronavirus crisis out of “ignorance” and “fear.”
“Let’s be clear: Trump lies. He lies out of ignorance. He lies out of fear. He lies out of habit, and yet he is incapable of accepting responsibility or accountability,” Abrams told Complex.
Abrams, who is reportedly on the Joe Biden’s short list of potential running mates, said the country needs “a president who will actually tell the truth, take responsibility” like Biden.
“He won’t tell us a fairy tale. The fairy tale will fall apart when your grandmother can’t get a ventilator because they’ve under-resourced your hospital,” Abrams said. “In this day and age, we should demand every person that’s running for office—essentially trying to earn our trust—to prove it by telling us the truth.”
Abrams also argued that Biden “understands the brokenness of our democracy and wants to address it. He understands the brokenness of our economy and knows that any solution has to begin with those who are the most vulnerable and the least resilient.”
She also said she is giving “direct” answers and not spewing out the standard non-answer when asked about whether she wants to be on the 2020 ticket because she feels that she has a “responsibility” to be direct and honest to her “community” that is “used to being lied to” by so many politicians.
“One of the reasons why I’m so direct is because I know my community is used to being lied to, and part of our responsibility is that of candor. People may not like what they hear, but if they don’t trust [us] when they hear it, they will harm themselves and the community,” Abrams said. “When I tell you something, I need you to believe that I mean it and that it is so. This is what we need from the next president of the United States.”