Former Clinton adviser Richard Goodstein got into a heated debate with Tucker Carlson on Thursday night regarding whether or not he believed Georgia Gov.-elect Brian Kemp engaged in voter suppression to help him win the election.
Abrams and her campaign have consistently accused Kemp of racist voter suppression. A spokeswoman for Abrams’ campaign released a statement in October claiming that he is “maliciously wielding the power of his office to suppress the vote for political gain and silence the voices of thousands of eligible voters — the majority of them people of color.”
She continued repeating those assertions following her loss. (RELATED: Georgia GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Misleadingly Accused Of Racist Voter Suppression … Again)
WATCH:
“There was higher turnout all over the country. Here are five things that Republican governors and legislators did to suppress the vote over the past few years. [They] closed polling places, purged eligible voters, they barred felons, which was overturned in Florida, voter I.D. was required, which cuts against inner-city often minority voters, and early voting was eliminated in states for early voting typically favor Democrats,” Goodstein stated. “So those steps were taken. Notwithstanding that, Kemp won, congratulations. But, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any voter suppression.”
“But actually, that does mean that, because voter suppression is what it sounds like, it is the suppression of votes but Stacy Abrams got more votes than any Democrat in ten years in the state of Georgia. She got more votes than Hillary Clinton got, who was running for president in 2016. Where are the votes that were suppressed? I mean she got a historic number of votes. I don’t understand. Maybe there were attempts made that they didn’t work by definition, right?” Carlson responded.
“You could have better pitching and still have more home runs, right? We know that Kemp had tens of thousands of people declared ineligible and disproportionately those tended to be African Americans,” Goodstein responded.
Stacey Abrams speaks to the crowd of supporters announcing they will wait till the morning for results of the mid-terms election at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. November 7, 2018. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant – RC19D7CE1860
“Will you at least concede that, exit polls suggest, that African Americans voted in the same proportion they had in previous elections in the state of Georgia. Exit polling did not detect any drop-off in black voting. Period. And her numbers for the highest of any Democrat in ten years. Will you at least concede that maybe voter suppression, if it existed, wasn’t very effective?” the show host asked. (RELATED: Tucker Calls Out A Former Clinton Advisor For Calling Carter Page A Russian Spy)
Goodstein followed up, “No.”
Carlson proceeded to laugh at him.
“In every other state the black vote was up, right? So the fact that it was flat with a black woman at the head of the ticket tells you something was going on to actually suppress it,” Goodstein concluded.