The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Stacey Abrams on Keeping the Momentum in Georgia

Episode Date: January 25, 2021

Fair Fight founder Stacey Abrams describes using grassroots organizing to help flip the Senate and her plans to continue working to bring lasting change to Georgia. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Seth Done of CBS News, listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. Stacey Abrams, welcome back to the daily social distancing show. Thank you for having me again.

The last time you were on the show, for many Americans, it seemed like everything was lost. We were at the heights of the George Floyd protests. Donald Trump was, I mean, just Donald Trump, and coronavirus was going up in a way that we couldn't have even imagined could get worse. Speaking to you today, Joe Biden is now officially in the White House. Donald Trump is back playing golf where he was when he was president, but not as president, and coronavirus is still going up.

So it's, I guess, one, one, one, one, one, one, one, one out of three right now. Are you happy with how things are going? How are you doing today? I'm incredibly grateful for where we are in two ways. One. One. One. One, one, one, one, one, one, one. to, to, to, to, to. to to to. to to to to. to to. to. too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. too, to. too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too. too, too, two ways. One, we now have a president who can actually address the death told that coronavirus is wreaking across the country can make certain that communities that have been left out of just simply getting basics will suddenly, and I think for the first time have access to the support and resources they need. I am deeply, deeply grateful that Donald Trump is out of the White House. I'm a little annoyed that he's just south of where I live.

But we're America. He gets to live where he wants. But I think more than anything, we have an opportunity for hope that we haven't had in a very long time. And I'm just pleased that Georgia got to be a part of making it so. Many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many. to be a part of making it so. Many people have credited the work that you've done in Georgia. What I've appreciated though is how when Georgia flipped, the first thing you did was thank all the other people who made it possible. Walk me through that.

Is it very strange for you to be almost like the Iron Man of this thing and then you you have to keep telling people, yes, but Spider-Man also did Black Panther and so did every single other person in the Marvel Universe. I'm grateful for the support and the accolades and I understand just how relieved people feel and it's important often to identify a focal point. I've been privileged to be a part of building this apparatus over a decade. I've been pretty good at publicly begging for money for our state and being the hype man for Georgia. And so I appreciate the attention and the recognition,

but I do think it's always essential that you recognize all of the component pieces because grassroots organizing and political organizing are two facets of how you put together the infinity stone that actually delivers us you know from you know Thanos into justice. So this is I know and and for all the Marvel you know athletes I know I completely butchered that a little bit but you got what I meant. So you know I'm I'm so pleased to be a part of this pantheon that got good done, and it is my responsibility to always lift up those who have been doing this work, because the minute we start to believe our own hype, we believe the accolades that they belong solely to us, that's the beginning of someone like a Donald Trump.

That's the beginning of something like the modern-day Republican Party where you lose the sense of who you are trying to be what people say they think you should be. What do you think it is about black women that are that people see as magic but black women see as almost a necessity because you know I look at South Africa's history and obviously you had the likes of Nelson Mandela that everybody knows about but then you you had all of the women, you know, like Winnie Mandela, etc. Who fought for the struggle and didn't get as many accolades. The same thing happened in America. You look at the civil rights movement and how many women have either been erased or overlooked

when talking about the story of America achieving democracy. When you look at the fight that is happening right now, the denying that everywhere around the country black women are at the forefront of trying to get America to be as progressive as possible. What do you think that comes from? That black women tend to bear the brunt of every evil and bear the responsibility for every failure. And so our response, our only response has to be that we're going to push harder, fight longer, and recognize that we will go unrecognized. But that said, I want to expand the conversation a bit because for communities, Latino communities

that are languishing in spaces where they are not respected, I think it's something that women do. I think that we have communities, Asian American, American, Pacific Islander communities, Native American communities, where women are often the leaders, the lost leaders. We are the ones who do the work. We rarely get the credit, but we understand the consequences. And that's really what drives us. And certainly black women in this moment deserve every accolade and every plowed it. But I also want to make sure that we think about all the other women of color

and white women who have entered the space where they are from places of marginalization and disadvantage because men seem to be men no matter which race they're in. And so women, I think it's just critical for us to not only lift up black women, to lift up women when we do right, but to recognize that we're also always in coalition trying to get this done. So then the big question is, where does Stacey Abrams go from here? What is the job?

Everyone has a job for you. I mean, some people want you to run for president. Some people want you to take up the mantle in Georgia. You know, some people say Stacey Abrams, you've got to keep going for Georgia. Georgia is the future, so you should be the governor. I know that you've publicly said that you won't be running, but my question to you is why wouldn't you run for governor of Georgia? Well, so my first jobs I need to get people to buy my last book. Our time is now that the story of how we build thi th. th. the story th. the story the story th. the story th. thi the story thi. the story thi. thi. the story thi. thi. thi. the story thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. te. to to to to to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. to th. to th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to t. to to to te. to to to to toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. is to, I am going to continue to focus on Georgia, focus on redistricting, focus on the fact that already Brad Raffsenberger is agitating and advocating for rolling back voting rights, focus on the work we have to still do to make certain that

COVID recovery actually recognizes the disproportionate effect that COVID has had on a state like Georgia where you have such high populations of communities of color and no public health infrastructure to speak of. I may run for office again, I haven't decided what I'm going to do politically, but I know that my work is here, my focus is now, and my mission is to help lift the South, starting here in Georgia. Donald Trump was a common cause that people were fighting against. Joe Biden is now going to be the president who has to answer and address many of the issues that many Americans are facing. You don't agree with everything that Joe Biden says or does, and I mean, that's part of politics. What are some of the issues that you want to see him addressing?

What are some of the things that you feel Joe Biden and his administration need to push for immediately. I think he's made the right first steps by focusing on COVID and COVID relief. We have to recognize that the disproportionate infection rate, the disproportionate death rate, the disproportionate loss of income has affected communities of color and women in ways that will continue to reverberate through our economy, they are starting early on that issue, and I think that's the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right th th th th that's that's thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi's thi's thi's thi. their thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. t. te. t. t. t. t. t. their. their. their. their. their. their... t. te. te.. te. te. te. te. tttttttttttttttttte. te. te. te. to. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to tto reverberate through our economy, they are starting early on that issue, and I think that's the right start. Number two, we've got to restore our democracy. Defeating Donald Trump was simply attacking one of the symptoms. We've got to fix the disease, which is this Republican insistence

that the way to win elections is to keep citizens from voting. And that's a solvable problem, and they wen, and thiiii, and thi, we thi, we thi, we thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, we've tho, we've thi, we've thi, we've to to to to to to to to to to to to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to, we've to to, we've to to tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thoooooooooooooooooooooooo, tomo. toooooo. too. too. thoo, the bills ready to go. And then number three, climate action. The fact that he has tapped John Kerry to be an emissary on this issue, the fact that he has really populated his cabinet with people like Jennifer Granholm who understand how we can take climate action and turn it into job creation, turn it into community opportunity, turn it into environmental justice. Those are the first three things that we focus on. And I think overarching all of that is making certain that we embed racial justice in every one of these conversations because racial justice cuts across every one of these issues.

And if we do it right, we can start to finally reckon with who we are and what we can become. After every victory, there's a moment of celebration. After hard work, there's a moment where you reap your awards. Is Stacey Abrams going on a vacation? I know it's hard in a pandemic. There's not many places you can go, but Georgia has like beautiful lakes and you've got beautiful areas you can.

Are you going to take some time off or do you just want to? I am so excited. My younger sister Leslie likes to bother the Dickens out of me because I don't vacation effectively. But I am going on vacation and I am so excited. And I need the rest. I got to do. What do you do on vacation? What does Stacey Abrams do on vacation?

Are you the, are you the like sit down, read a book, do nothing type thing? Or are you the kayak on like a river type person? Who are you? I, I, kayaking on a river is what you do when you're on an active vacation with people who know how to do the balance but I'm going to go vacation by myself and I will be reading, I will occasionally roll over and maybe watch something on TV and then roll back over and start the next book and I'm going to to to to to to th back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the th back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back the the the the the the the the th. the the the th. th. I'm the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th...... th. the th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm to to to to thi. I'm thea. I'm tea. I'm tea. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm t really, really long naps. I'm so excited about sleeping. Well, enjoy the naps. Enjoy the reading and I'm excited to see what the future of Stacy Abrams Halls. Thank you so much for joining us again on the show. Trevor, thank you for having me again.

You're fantastic. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central Act. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. to. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.

This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like, none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News.

Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.