Stacey Abrams' 'intentional outreach' to black male voters
Fox News correspondent Charles Watson reports from Atlanta on Georgia gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp and the differences in their respective campaign strategies on 'Special Report.'
FIRST ON FOX: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams spoke Sunday at the Atlanta church of a pastor who previously told a Baltimore congregation to make gay people "uncomfortable in [their] sin."
New Birth Missionary Baptist Church senior pastor Jamal H. Bryant, who has repeatedly praised the antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, promoted Abrams' visit on Twitter a couple of times over the last few days, saying her visit would be "historic" and that she will be the "next governor" of Georgia.
In the middle of his church service, Bryant invited all the young girls in the congregation to come to the front of the sanctuary to listen to Abrams speak, lavishing praise on Abrams during his introduction of her.
"Let me ask that everybody pull your phone out for me, please," Bryant said before Abrams addressed his congregation. "I want our next governor to go viral from New Birth. Amen. I want her team to see that there was a bump in social media because of her presence from today."
Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church senior pastor Jamal H. Bryant hugged after he introduced her as an "amazing trailblazer." (Jamal Bryant/Twitter screenshot)
"It is my privilege to warmly welcome to this pulpit, to this sanctuary, to the most powerful church in the whole state of Georgia my Spelman [College] sister, an amazing trailblazer, somebody who God anointed from birth for this moment," the pastor continued.
"I wanted to say to America if you couldn't handle a Black mermaid, get ready for a Black governor," Bryant added as Abrams approached him and gave him a hug.
"Thank you so much, Dr. Bryant," Abrams said before speaking for about four minutes.
The pastor made headlines earlier this year when his past comments about gay marriage were unearthed by Fox News Digital as he was booked to be the keynote speaker for a ticketed, "invite-only" event at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) convention.
Bryant told the congregation at the Baltimore Empowerment Temple in 2012 that "homosexuality is not the only sin, but it is a sin," while adding that it is their "responsibility" to make gay people and other sinners "uncomfortable in [their] sin."
He went on to attack former President Obama for supporting gay marriage and not giving Black pastors a warning, causing them to feel blindsided and betrayed. He told the congregation Obama was "Black and wrong" and "Black and out of order."
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has a history of antisemitic comments. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) endorsed Abrams earlier this year and said she "has been a strong ally to the LGBTQ+ community, as she fought against regressive, anti-equality legislation during her time in the Georgia House of Representatives and supported policies like nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Georgians and marriage equality."
In her speech, Abrams said for two decades, Georgians have been "living in a state where the roof’s been leaking and the basement floods a lot" and have been told to deal with it.
Abrams said "the leak" is the state not paying teachers who receive an average $53,497 salary – over double the 2019 state poverty line of $26,172 – "a living wage," the "refusal to invest in" Georgia communities, to address high housing costs, and "mass incarceration" being "on the rise" in the Peach State while "the road to redemption is getting shorter."
"So the choice we are making in the next 51 days is: do we invest in these young women standing in front of me, do we invest in replacing the roof and fixing the plumbing, or do we give it back to the mortgage broker?" Abrams said, encouraging congregation members to get out and vote early.
At the end of her speech, Abrams said that with "your help and with your prayer, Dr. Bryant, with your aid on Nov. 8, I'll fight for you."
Later in the day, Abrams attended a campaign event with Bryant, who was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with Abrams' face on it, at the New Black Wall Street Market in Georgia.
Stacey Abrams, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, speaks during a news conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 24, 2022. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bryant also has a long history of praising Farrakhan, who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric dating back decades, including calling Jews "wicked" and comparing them to termites by saying he was "anti-termite." In 2015, Bryant interviewed the Nation of Islam leader and said he is "one of the greatest leaders of our people."
"We welcome to the Word Network and the entire world, the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan! We’re honored to have you, sir," Bryant said. "I’m so appreciative to be able to mark in history that I lived in the same chasm of time as one of the greatest leaders of our people."
Numbers are showing that incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is maintaining a steady lead over Abrams going into the final stretch of what is expected to be a tight election, but the race is far from over.
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The pair of Peach State politicians are in an electoral rematch against one another after Abrams was defeated by Kemp for the governorship in a bitter 2018 bout.
Neither Abrams’ campaign nor the New Birth Ministry Baptist Church immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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