Biden adviser and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Sunday on MSNBC that Black men are being targeted for misinformation as the 2022 midterm election approaches.
The host of The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart shared a clip of Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams claiming that Black men are being targeted with misinformation with MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi on Saturday.
Capehart then asked Bottoms about “misinformation that’s being targeted at Black men” and inquired, “Is she not getting the Black support that she needs in her race against Brian Kemp?”
“Listen, Jonathan, I think that Stacey is spot-on with that. I listen as my kids watch NBA highlights and whatever else they watch on YouTube, I hear the misinformation being piped in,” she claimed. “My 12-year-old, my 14-year-old son, my 20-year-old is getting it.”
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“There is definitely a target towards African-America men, not just to give them misinformation but to make them so discouraged that they won’t show up to vote,” she said. “And again, I have been a candidate before. I have been in this position before, going into my race as mayor five years ago, I was seven points down in the polls going into the week of the election and I won by more than 800 votes because people showed up to vote.”
Later, Bottoms condemned Republicans, claiming, “Remember the goal is not just to try and get them to vote for Brian Kemp or get people to vote for Herschel Walker, a victory for Republicans can be if African-American voters stay at home.”
On Saturday, Abrams said that Black men have greatly increased their voter participation rates between 2018 and now, but, “I do not believe it’s because of a deep well of enthusiasm for my opponent.”
She went on to say, “We know that Black voters are often discounted and unfortunately this year Black men have been a very targeted population for misinformation.”
Capehart himself had recently spoken to President Biden about how he and “millions” of Americans in the electorate are “scared” about the state of the country.
“Mr. President, I’ll be honest: I’m scared,” Capehart said to Biden in October. “Millions of Americans are scared, and they’re concerned about the concerted attacks on democracy, on voting, and how that’s going to impact the midterm elections.”
