Posted Wednesday, January 17, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk
Last week, Samantha Bee on her TBS show gave Georgia gubernatorial candidate and former Minority House Leader Stacey Abrams nearly six minutes of air time. She was cited as an example of how crucial black women can be in politics.
"Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" correspondent Ashley Nicole Black noted that if Abrams wins, she'd be the first female African-American governor ever.
Upfront, Abrams ticked off her extensive qualifications and was described as a "charming black policy nerd."
While working in the House, "sometimes my style caused friction but I take that as a badge of honor," Abrams said. "They may not like me but respected me to elect me every single time."
"I will put you down for screams into your pillow every night," Black said.
One of Abrams' favorite examples of mental jujitsu was convincing the late Cobb County conservative legislator Bobby Franklin to not vote for an anti-abortion bill because it wasn't extreme enough. "Is that what black girl magic is?" Black said. "You are like the Cesar Millan of Republicans."
"I'm tired of being the first," Abrams said, "because if you're the first, that means people often think you should be the last."
Eventually, Black called Abrams "the political Shonda Rhimes."
Abrams: "That's the biggest compliment you can give me."
She then went along (gamely) with bits about "Scandal" and FX's "Atlanta."
Though Abrams complained, "Couldn't even get Donald Glover." Ouch!
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