Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp blamed the “culture of annulment” and Democratic opposition to a recently passed electoral law – rather than the GOP-sponsored law itself – for making Major League Baseball its all-star game to relocate to the state.
Standing next to a dozen Republican civil servants, the governor said, “You will stop at nothing to silence us all.”
He suggested that critics did not single out parts of the bill in their ratings, despite reporters pushing him to identify elements of the bill.
When asked if he was concerned about a “snowball effect” after MLB’s move, as well as opposition from massive Georgia-based companies like Coca-Cola, the governor said, “You can bow to this culture of demolition,” but “it will never be enough ”. .
The governor’s comments were the third time in 24 hours that he condemned the “cancel culture” in multiple branches, reinforced by his GOP allies. He appeared on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s program on Friday night to make similar comments.
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Georgia – one of at least 47 states contemplating laws to cut early and postal votes, among other things – has seen widespread backlash against the law that limits the deadline for postal votes, relieving and into the hands of electoral officials from vital oversight functions Partisan lawmakers, reduce the number of ballot boxes in a large democratic county and criminalize the distribution of food and water to voters in line for the election.
President Joe Biden, who described the law as “un-American” and “blatant attack” on voting rights in a statement after it was passed, told ESPN that he supported MLB’s decision to withdraw from the state and condemned the law as a “Jim” Crow on Steroids “.
Democratic officials in Georgia have largely avoided prosecuting boycotts, arguing that doing so would cost the state much-needed jobs.
Georgia Voting Advocate Stacey Abrams, who challenged Mr. Kemp in the 2018 governor’s race, said that while she is disappointed that the All-Star game is moving, “I recommend to the players, owners, and the league that they do have spoken out “.
“Georgians affected by the repression of GOP voters will be hurt when opportunities arise for other states,” she said in a statement Friday. “We shouldn’t abandon the victims of GOP malice and lies – we have to stand together.”
On Saturday, the former President Barack Obama praised the leaders of the league for “standing up for the right to vote for all citizens”.
The state Republicans have suggested that it is the Democratic opposition – not the consequences of such a bill – that has cost the state jobs associated with the game.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who tried to reverse election results in the state that has elected a Democratic president for the first time since 1992, along with two Democratic senators who have shifted the balance of power in Congress, has his supporters urged, “Boycott baseball and all corporations woke up” and condemn the bill.
