WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was dismissive about the future political prospects of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, saying in an Oval Office interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that the Democrat could not defeat incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue in a statewide battle.
Hours after Abrams delivered a well-received rebuttal to Trump's State of the Union address on behalf of the Democratic Party, Trump said it would be a "mistake" for Abrams to run against Perdue, one of his top Georgia allies, in 2020.
"I think it's a mistake for her to run against him because I don't think she can win," the president told the AJC and a group of regional reporters in a wide-ranging exclusive interview.
“David Perdue is an incredible senator, if you remember, and will be very hard to beat,” he added.
Top Democrats have been feverishly courting Abrams to run against Perdue, a first-term Republican and former Fortune 500 CEO. If she enters the race, it would instantly become a blockbuster contest that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate.
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Abrams has met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about the job and has given herself a March deadline to announce whether she’ll seek the seat, pursue a rematch against Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022 or hold out for another contest.
“I am running for office again,” Abrams recently told supporters. “I don’t know for what.”
Abrams narrowly lost last year’s gubernatorial race to Kemp, a Republican, and refused to formally concede the race, citing what she saw as systematic voting issues and Kemp’s refusal to step down as secretary of state ahead of the election.
She’s since launched a voting rights group to carry her message and challenge GOP policies in court, joined a D.C. think tank and organized a “thank you” tour.
Tuesday’s prime-time address -- by far the biggest stage of her career -- was seen as a way of introducing Abrams to a national audience.
Abrams’ performance on Tuesday evening, in which she described her own working class background and detailed how she worked across the aisle in the Georgia Legislature, won praise from prominent Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Joe Biden, and even prompted some calls for her to run for president.
Trump smiled when asked about the prospect of Abrams making a White House run and took a dig at her and other Democrats before reminiscing about his own ascent to the presidency.
“I’d love for her to run for president,” he said of Abrams. “Why? Because so far, I’m liking the candidates, and she’d be another one I’d like. To run for president, you’re supposed to have won, unless you’re a nonpolitician like me. I’d never ran. I’m one for one.”
Fresh off her rebuttal speech, Abrams on Wednesday aimed to capitalize on the publicity. Her Fair Fight Action voting rights group sent out several fundraising pitches to supporters and touted its work on social media.
She also announced three more stops on a “thank you” tour that kicked off last month in Albany -- the same town where she launched her campaign for governor.
On Thursday, she’ll greet supporters in Savannah, followed by a Monday trip to Gwinnett. In March, she’s planning an Atlanta event.
Abrams has been on Trump’s radar for quite some time. Ahead of Election Day, Trump told reporters that the former Georgia House minority leader was “not qualified” to be governor and warned at a rally in Macon that she would turn Georgia “into Venezuela.”
This article was written by Tamar Hallerman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.