Donald Trump and Stacey Abrams

 

But if Republicans like to present the you bumped me so I can shoot you to justify Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election by comparing it to Hillary Clinton calling Trump illegitimate in a few 2019 speeches or Al Gore suing to challenge a highly contested outcome in Florida, their favorite example is Stacey Abrams' 2018 run for governor.  

And here I will admit to not being familiar with all the ins and outs of what happened.  But here are a few:

• Abrams' opponent, Brian Kemp (yes, that is the same Brian Kemp who refused to overturn the election in 2020) was Secretary of State in charge of vote counting while also running for governor.  (Imaging Republicans' reaction if a Democratic Secretary of State ran for governor and refused to recuse from vote counting).
• Kemp was fairly aggressive in purging voter roles and sluggish in accepting new registrations.
• The margin of vote was 55,000 votes -- greater than the total number of rejected votes.
• Kemp was clearly unethical on at least one occasion -- falsely accusing Democrats of cyber crimes in the waning days of the election.
• Ten days after the election, Abrams made a "non-concession" speech, acknowledging the legality, but not the moral legitimacy, of Kemp's victory, and saying that her lawyers had told her she could not expect to win a suit to overturn the outcome.
• Abrams did not sue to overturn the outcome, but her organization, Fight Fair Action, sued for prospective changes in the voting rules, and she worked to change voting rules and register more voters.
• Though Abrams did not seek to overturn the outcome, she did increasingly denounce the outcome as illegitimate until Trump demonstrated just how dangerous such talk could be.

Here is my table for Stacey Abrams:

Donald Trump	Stacey Abrams
Insisted during the election that if he lost it would be proof of fraud.*	Raised questions about the ethic of her opponent serving as Secretary of State in charge of counting ballots while also running for governor, and about some of his actions as Secretary of State. Raised continued questions after the election about the legitimacy of the outcome.* It should be noted that some of Kemp’s actions as Secretary of State were ethically questionable, but none appears to have been illegal, or to have swung the election.
Refused to concede defeat until  the January 6 insurrection was defeated and his cabinet threatened to invoke the 25th Amendment unless he conceded.*	Ten days after the election had an ungracious speech acknowledging the legality but not the moral legitimacy of her opponent’s win* and the creation of Fight Fair Action to change voting laws and defend voting rights.
Automatic recounts in all close states.	Automatic recount.
Filed or encouraged others to file over 60 lawsuits challenging the results, all of which were thrown out as completely without merit.*	Informed that no suit was likely to succeed and decided not to file.  However, Fight Fair Action did sue alleging voter suppression and did work to change voting laws and register voters after her non-concession.
Pressured legislatures in all swing states to override the results and appoint a slate of electors pledged to Trump.**	N/A, since Georgia was controlled by Republicans.
Pressured the (Republican) Secretary of State in Georgia to change the result.***	N/A, since Georgia was controlled by Republicans.
Arranged for alternative slates of electors in all swing states to claim to be the real electors and vote for Trump.**	N/A, does not apply to state elections.
Encouraged the machinery of the federal government to declare some elections fraudulent** or to void the elections, seize the ballots, and hold a do-over.***	N/A, since Georgia was controlled by Republicans.
Pressured the Vice President to either reject swing state votes for his opponent or to send the votes back to the swing state legislatures for a 10-day “investigation.”**	N/A, does not apply to state elections.
Called for a “wild” protest to pressure Congress into naming him the winner.*	No protests, did work to change election laws and register more voters.
Large riot the day Congress certified the election, that forced Congress to evacuate the Capitol and delayed the vote count by at least 6 hours.***  There is no evidence Trump foresaw the riot or intended to incite it, but he clearly relished the riot once it started and did nothing to stop it until it became apparent that the riot had been defeated.*	No riots, did work to change election laws and register more voters.
Did not attend his successor’s inauguration.*	I did not find the answer to this one.

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*Unethical, but not illegal.
**Unclear if this is illegal.
***Illegal.