Stacey Abrams, welcome back.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
I mean, this is strange because it's the fourth time
that we're chatting.
This is the first time I'm chatting
in your neck of the woods. - Yes.
Welcome.
It's the final stage of the race.
Yes.
It's been a particularly interesting race,
so let's start with this.
I know what your profile and your image
is in most parts of America.
Coming to Georgia has been really interesting
because every ad that I watch makes it seem like you
are a very evil person.
[laughter]
Well, my parents were surprised to learn
that I was responsible for the kidnapping
of the Lindbergh baby.
I know where Hoffa's body is buried.
And I may have stolen something backstage.
That wasn't in an ad, but OK, I'm going to check that.
It feels ridiculous.
It feels like people don't believe it.
It feels-- but it really feels like the campaign against you
has been particularly personal.
It's been particularly vile.
Part of standing for office is you know people
are going to attack you. TREVOR NOAH: Uh-huh.
You can either internalize the attacks,
or you can use it as fuel to remind you of why you're
doing this every single day.
And--
[applause]
These are real people with real lives.
And yeah, Brian Kemp wants to say vile things about me.
My daddy's watching, and I'm going to tell.
[laughter]
You-- you're in this race.
You're trying to position yourself as somebody
who can move Georgia forward.
One thing that has particularly overshadowed your campaign,
though, is how national politics has started to infect
state level politics.
So I would love to know, how do you distinguish
yourself as Stacey Abrams?
And how do you speak to people from under the shadow
of them saying, Joe Biden?
Because again, half of the ads are
not about you, funny enough.
It's Joe Biden's economy, Joe Biden's inflation.
Stacey Abrams is Joe Biden.
And so when you speak to people,
that's literally what one of the ads says.
It says, Stacey Abrams is Joe Biden.
How do you get out from under that,
and what do you think people need to understand that does
separate you, funny enough, from Joe
Biden/the national agenda?
Well, first of all, people remember who was in the office
before Joe Biden.
And they're very happy he's gone.
Number two, the money that has come to Georgia,
the resources that have come to Georgia,
the billions of dollars that have kept the state afloat,
came because of federal Democrats, not because
of the current governor.
Hardworking Georgians did this.
And I remind them of that.
But it's also Brian Kemp banned abortion.
He banned background checks.
He banned children.
He banned books.
He banned the truth.
And he intends to go further if he gets re-elected,
reminding women that you do not have the right
to control your bodies.
But Herschel Walker can do whatever he wants.
Brian Kemp's good with that.
But if you're a woman, he believes
he should control who you are.
He made-- he flooded our streets with guns.
And there is a story about gun violence every day in Georgia.
Right.
And so part of it is just reminding
people of his record.
Well, he's been governor for four years.
I haven't. He made sure of that.
So if you're the governor, you don't get to take credit,
but not take responsibility.
And that's how we frame it.
[applause]
It is going to be a hotly contested race.
Oh, yes.
There are going to be stories coming out about poll stations
that closed when they shouldn't have
and people who are kicked out of lines,
and purging, et cetera, et cetera.
What it creates is a really paradoxical world
where on the one hand, you want to call out election processes
that aren't fair and make it as easy as
possible for people to vote.
On the other hand, people will be quick to turn that on you
and say, oh, but if Trump doesn't accept the election,
then he's bad.
But you also don't accept the election, so you're bad.
How do you navigate that?
And how do you speak to the issues
around voting in Georgia without making
it seem like you don't accept the Democratic process?
You've actually done a great job of this.
But some of your colleagues have been very
easily duped into conflation.
There is one thing to be used to winning everything you want
and being told no and whining about it,
inciting insurrection.
That's what Donald Trump did.
Donald Trump denied the outcome of an election.
I know I'm not governor.
I haven't been governor for four whole years.
I have been very clear about that.
That's how I got to go on Star Trek.
[laughter]
[applause]
But what I have always fought for, and it's--
I mean, you can go back.
I was on the March on Washington
when I was 19, so this is--
I've got a pretty clear track record on this.
Voting rights, voting access, is about who gets to show up.
Election outcomes, that's up to the voters.
But access is the responsibility of government.
And Brian Kemp's greatest hits--
Brian Kemp is the architect of voter suppression.
And the reality is they try to stop us
from talking about the access so they can
gin up the outcome they want.
And what I will never stop talking about
is the fact that no American, no Georgian,
should be denied access if they are legally eligible.
And there is no amount of kvetching and blaming
and conflation and false equivalence that will ever
make me say that it is OK to tell a Georgian,
you don't have the right to be heard.
That is not right, and it will not happen
as long as I've got breath.
[cheering and applause]
I'll just say, the website is long.
Your answers are pretty conclusive.
And I see why you have the support that you do,
Stacey Abrams.
Thank you so much for joining me on the show again.
Thank you. [cheering, applause]
Wonderful having you.
Stacey Abrams, everybody.