Former Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Photo: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
Stacey Abrams stepped back into the national political spotlight Tuesday night, delivering a blistering rebuke to President Trump in the Democratic response to his State of the Union.
Catch up quick: Abrams took Trump to task over the recent 35-day partial government shutdown, calling it a "stunt engineered [by Trump], one that defied every tenet of fairness and abandoned not just our people — but our values."
Why it matters: Abrams narrowly lost the Georgia gubernatorial election during the 2018 midterms and become the first black woman to ever deliver a State of the Union response.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to tap her to deliver the party’s response comes as many Democrats are reportedly urging her to challenge incumbent Senator David Perdue (R-Ga.), a close ally of Trump, in 2020.
Some key highlights:
- Abrams, a former minority leader of the Georgia state House of Representatives, highlighted her time working with state Republicans: "It should be no different in our nation’s capital. We may come from different sides of the political aisle; but, our joint commitment to the ideals of this nation cannot be negotiable."
- She chastised Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's recent rebuke of a sweeping House Democratic election reform and anti-corruption bill that he mocks as the "Democratic Politician Protection Act." Abrams said: "We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counted is a "power grab."
- Abrams said she "acknowledged" the gubernatorial election results and emphasized that "I did not and we cannot accept efforts to undermine our right to vote. That’s why I started a nonpartisan organization called Fair Fight to advocate for voting rights."
Go deeper: Stacey Abrams is making State of the Union history tonight