Atlanta’s Democratic mayor claims Trump would ‘eat his own children’ in CNN interview
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D-GA) did an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday night concerning the Georgia recount and the influence of black women in the state. During her talk with Cooper, Bottoms voiced her opinion that Trump would do anything to advance his agenda, even going so far as to say: “He will eat his own children, I’m sure, if he found it prudent.”
Bottoms was discussing the importance of two runoff elections in Georgia in January that will determine control of the U.S. Senate with the CNN host. Anderson Cooper also voiced his opinion Trump would turn on anyone if the situation warrants it.
Georgia’s U.S. Senate races will undergo a runoff on Jan. 5. In one race, Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue faces a challenge from Democrat Jon Ossoff. In the other faceoff, Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler is contending with a challenge from Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Georgia is still hotly contested after a surprise presumptive win by Joe Biden. That win is being challenged by President Trump and his attorneys. Republicans must win their Senate races in Georgia to maintain control of the Senate. If they lose, Vice President Kamala Harris will be able to break ties in what would be a 50-50 split between the two major parties.
Cooper asked Bottoms if the president’s pursuit of voter-fraud cases in several states was perhaps in part an attempt to “rile up his base” to get them to the polls in January. He also sought Bottoms’ opinion on whether Trump’s actions might prompt Democrats to come out against the president.
“How do you think it plays electorally?” Cooper queried.
“This has been a fascinating year, especially if you watch politics,” Bottoms responded, “to even see the Republican president turn on the Republican secretary of state [of Georgia], whom he’s endorsed, and if you watch his Twitter feed — ”
“He’ll turn on anybody if the situation warrants it, it seems,” Cooper pointed out.
“He will eat his own children, I’m sure, if he found it prudent,” Bottoms quipped. “But he’s now picking a fight with Brian Kemp, also the governor, who he was closely allied with. And so it’s my hope that even if people did not vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that they will be so disappointed and disgusted by this behavior. If you look at the transition, the lack of transition that’s happening, you look at our COVID numbers that are rising in this state and across the country, there’s so many reasons not to be supportive of Donald Trump at this point and any candidates who are aligned with him.”
“So it’s my hope that when people go back to the polls on Jan. 5 they will remember that because in Georgia, Joe Biden got a nice portion of Republican-leaning votes in this state and also many independent swing voters in this state went for Joe Biden and it’s our hope that will happen Jan. 5.”
President Trump tweeted out on Wednesday that the Georgia recount of its Nov. 3 votes are “a joke,” and claimed it was being done “UNDER PROTEST.”
“Even though thousands of fraudulent votes have been found, the real number is in matching signatures,” the president said. “Governor [Kemp] must open up the constitutional Consent Decree and call in the Legislature!”
The Georgia recount is a joke and is being done UNDER PROTEST. Even though thousands of fraudulent votes have been found, the real number is in matching signatures. Governor must open up the unconstitutional Consent Decree and call in the Legislature!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020
Three separate batches of uncounted votes have been found in Georgia in recent days. Just three hours before Trump’s comment, more than 3,000 uncounted ballots were found in Georgia as the state continued its audit.
Cooper suggested to Bottoms that Democrat Stacey Abrams’ contentious defeat in the Georgia governor’s race in 2018 may have inspired more Georgia Democrats to vote this year but Bottoms said “a lot of things need to happen” between now and Jan. 5 in order for Democrats to have a chance of winning not one but two Senate runoff contests.
Bottoms went on to say that some voters may not even be aware of the Jan. 5 runoffs. She also pointed out that they may not realize how important the runoffs are for Democrats to get control of the Senate.
“It’s going to be a lot of work through January,” she said.
Bottoms also acknowledged that Black women voters played a significant role in Biden’s Georgia win but admonished that the Democrats shouldn’t rely on any single demographic group to win in January.
Bottoms’ name has emerged as a candidate for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Biden administration.
