Abrams Likens Dem Voting Rights Push to Ukraine — ‘This Is a War on Democracy’

During a Wednesday appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams argued the Democrats’ efforts to loosen voting rights laws in the United States was akin to the war in Ukraine in which Russia invaded the Eastern European country.

Abrams paraphrased a quote from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he said Russian President Vladimir Putin was engaging in a war on democracy with his invasion of Ukraine. She added that allowing democracy “to be overtaken by those want to choose who can be heard” based on “animus” was “wrong.”

“The process of voting is nonpartisan,” Abrams explained. “Everyone should have access to the ability to vote. It should be easy to vote. It should be accessible. There should be a freedom to vote. Any impediment to that is wrong. That’s full stop. I don’t care who you vote for. When I’m focusing on the voting system, my focus should never be on you who cast your ballot for. Voting itself, the process is nonpartisan. Now, when you get in there, I’m going to do everything in my power to convince you I’m the person to pick. But the fight for the right to vote is something that should cut across every demographic, every ideology, every community. We are a stronger nation when we allow people to participate.”

She continued, “And if we ever doubted that, the war that Putin is waging against Ukraine. President Zelensky said it — I’m going to paraphrase him probably poorly– he said this isn’t a war on Ukraine. This is a war on democracy in Ukraine. When we allow democracy to be overtaken by those who want to choose who can be heard, and those choices are not based on anything other than animus and inconvenience, then that is wrong. My mission is to make certain that everyone can cast a ballot, even people who don’t like me– especially those folks. They should be able to go and cast their ballots. My job is to make sure that more people who like me show up, but that’s campaigning. That’s not voting rights.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent