Former Georgia congresswoman and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams called out Governor Brian Kemp for having “absolutely no competency” amid the growing COVID-19 crisis in the state, after Kemp announced that he would block local mandates requiring people to wear face masks. Abrams, 46, said Kemp is “following the lead of the incompetency and the immorality” of President Donald Trump by refusing to acknowledge the danger he’s causing. More than 3000 Georgia residents have died from coronavirus as of July 16, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
"From the beginning of this catastrophe, Brian Kemp has demonstrated that he has absolutely no competency in this process," Stacey Abrams says of the governor's decision to void local mask mandates. "What he continues to do is downplay … the deaths of Georgians." pic.twitter.com/6gl5GPs2GB
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 16, 2020
Appearing on MSNBC on July 15, Abrams said, “From the beginning of this catastrophe, Brian Kemp has demonstrated he has absolutely no competency in this process. This is the same man who didn’t understand weeks after the world knew that asymptomatic people could spread the disease.” Kemp bafflingly admitted in April that he had somehow only just learned that fact, despite it being widespread knowledge since January. The CDC is headquartered in the very state that he governs.
Kemp announced on July 15 that he is banning Georgia cities and counties from ordering people to wear masks in public, voiding orders that at least 15 cities throughout the state had already made. Overall, the local mandates protected 1.4 million of Georgia’s more than 10 million residents. Instead, he is encouraging voluntary mask wearing, telling college football fans that wearing protective gear would make football season possible.
His ban enraged local politicians, like Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, who tweeted, “It is officially official. Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us. Every man and woman for himself/herself. Ignore the science and survive the best you can.” Abrams, who is thought to be one of the top contenders to become Joe Biden‘s 2020 running mate, said in her interview that Kemp “thwarted” Johnson’s efforts to protect his residents.
“More than 3,000 Georgians have perished, disproportionately Black and Brown Georgians, and he continues to fiddle while Rome burns,” Abrams said. “This is not a man who’s capable of leadership.”