Democrat Stacey Abrams, a prominent voting rights activist and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, claimed that the country was almost “even” when President-elect Trump defeated Vice President Harris to win the 2024 presidential election.
“Donald Trump won the election, but it wasn't a landslide,” Abrams, who lost the Peach State governor's race twice, said in an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Monday. “This country was evenly divided and he got more people, but this wasn't a seismic shift where 57, 58 percent of America said no.”
“Less than 50 percent of voters said this is what we want,” she added.
Nonpartisan Cook Political Report show Trump received 49.8% of the popular vote, compared to 48.33% for Harris.
Although Trump won both the Electoral College and the popular vote in the past election cycle, PBS reported that his lead over Harris was “small by historical standards.” As his victory, reported It was the fourth smallest win since 1960, according to the outlet.
According to PBS, Mr. Trump won 1.62 percentage points over Ms. Harris in the votes counted through November 20, which is the narrowest margin of victory for any candidate since 2000, when then-Republican candidate George W. He defeated former Vice President Al Gore by a margin of just over 0.5 percentage points.
However, Mr. Trump secured victory in all seven battleground states, bringing Georgia back in line and holding on to North Carolina, breaking the “blue wall.” PBS reported that victories in key battleground states were secured by “particularly large margins.”
During the MSNBC interview, Abrams also spoke about “common sense” in politics, arguing that while it is a difficult choice, it has a “confidence-boosting” effect.
“Our responsibility to decency is to show those who stayed home, those who remained silent, that there is room for decency and a place for them,” she told Hayes. “That's the job that needs to be done.”
But, Abrams added, “that's not the only product.”
She also warned that when decency and dishonor, or shame and dishonor, conflict, the latter always prevails.
“People who are dishonorable are willing to do things that common sense would not do,” Abrams said. “But I don't think that means abandoning civility; I think it means finding other allies.”
