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INTERVIEW: Keisha Lance Bottoms Speaks On Georgia Governor Race · The Breakfast Club

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Keisha Lance Bottoms is joining us again.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Good morning, KLB.
• 0:06
  Speaker 3: Good morning. It's great to be with you.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: You know, I was looking at the polls, man.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Only point oh three percent separates you and Rick Jackson.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: What does that what does that mean exactly?
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, it means that it's going to come down
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: to the wire. We always knew that this was going
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: to be a close race, but to put it into context,
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: this man has spent over $ 220 million in this campaign,
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: over $ 100 million against me alone, and we are tied.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: So it speaks to the power of the movement that
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: we have with this campaign. And we're just reminding people,
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: don't get comfortable with those early vote turnouts. You got
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: to turn out today first. run through the tape, and
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: then we'll celebrate later.
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: Have you been seeing anything that looks a little crazy
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: at the polls out in Georgia at all?
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: There were a few flags that we've had. Nothing that
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: seems to be systemic. It all seems to be one-offs.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Some people have gotten letters questioning their registration. Someone was
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: told they had to take a class in order to vote.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: But we don't see a pattern yet. But hopefully, you know,
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: those were just one offs and it's not something larger
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: going on.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: You know, Keisha, Georgia has become one of the most
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: politically important states in America.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: But there's still a lot of distrust toward both parties.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: What would you say to a voter who's sitting at
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: home right now deciding.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Whether they want to go out and vote, who believes
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: politicians only come around when they need votes and disappear
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: once they're elected? What would you say to that person
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to get them off the couch this morning?
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: I would say that it's understandable, but not to give
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: up on our democracy, that our voices are reflected through
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: our votes. And everything that you care about comes through government,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: whether it is, will a hospital stay open in your community?
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Will there be a library? How your schools will be funded?
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: Will that pothole be filled? Will that bridge be repaired?
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: I mean, it all goes, it all boils down to government.
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: So when you stay home and don't vote, you are
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: voting for something that most likely it's not in your
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: best interest. Also, just to piggyback from what Charlotte said,
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: more specifically, how would you activate the youth?
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Because, you know, that's a big part. That's a big
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: part of the people.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: Well, you know what? Thankfully, we have seen a significant
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: uptick in our young voters turning out to vote. But again,
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: we need more because what people have to understand, there's
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: still enough votes out there on either side for it
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: to go either way for our young people. I've heard
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: them loud and clear when they've talked about wanting access
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: to mental health services. That's probably the number one concern
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: I hear from high school students and college students. They're
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: concerned about AI and is it going to take away
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: their possibilities of having jobs in the future and then
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: the cost of living? You know, they're questioning, is my
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: education worth it? So I've heard them. I've been working
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: on policies to address these issues that we've heard, like
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: expanding our 988 mental health access services. making sure that
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: we have a pathway to free technical and community college,
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: and then proposing things like eliminating our grocery taxes in
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: Georgia and taxes on diapers, baby formula, and feminine hygiene products.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: We've had, I'm not sure the gentleman, I'm not sure
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: if he was running for governor. I can't remember, but
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: he was talking about house taxes, right?
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Home taxes.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: And he was saying that a lot of times, especially
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: in our community, generational wealth comes from families passing down
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: homes from years and years and years.
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  Speaker 2: You're talking about Dr. Jermaine Johnson of South Carolina. Yeah, Dr.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: Jermaine Johnson.
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  Speaker 4: And he was talking about how, you know, you can
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: pay off your house in 30 years and you own
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: that house, but you don't pay your taxes in two
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: or three years and they automatically take your house. What's
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: your thoughts on that? Because it seems like that's a
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: way that we're losing a lot of our quote unquote
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: generational wealth and these houses that's been passed down from
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  Speaker 4: our grandmothers, great grandmothers, our great, great grands. What are
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: your thoughts on that?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and my family is experiencing this. My mother owns
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: the home that my grandparents built. That's on purpose. And
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  Speaker 3: when those taxes come due, you know, my mom's a senior,
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  Speaker 3: and she is trying to figure out how she's going
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: to pay those taxes in lump sum. So what I
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: did when I was mayor of Atlanta was I created
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: an affordable housing trust fund. Mm-hmm. And it allowed us
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: to do just that, to offset rising property taxes. The
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: first legislation I proposed was when I was on city
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: council and we did it outside of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: because we knew gentrification was going to hit that area hard.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: We now expanded it citywide and I want to expand
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  Speaker 3: that and fully fund it statewide. It not only helps
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: people be able to pay their property taxes, our seniors
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: or people who may not be able to afford to
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: do it, but also... you know, with down payment assistance,
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: rental assistance. And then just one other thing I'll say,
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: another challenge we have is with air property, where grandparents
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: leave the home and they don't leave a will. So
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: that's a huge issue, especially in Black communities. So we
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: are working on policies to help make it easier for
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: people to clean up those titles.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Let me ask you a question, Keisha.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: When you woke up this morning, because, you know, you've
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: been through elections before, but this time you're running for
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: governor of Georgia.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: When you woke up this morning, What was the first
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: thought that crossed your mind?
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  Speaker 3: Why did my son at Morehouse College come home at
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: 2.45 this morning?
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, so you didn't sleep much last night?
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: I did not. There was a lot of activity in
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: my house. But, you know, I went to Crawfordville, Georgia yesterday.
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: And it was where my grandmother was born in 1916.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: So it was already a very emotional day for me.
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  Speaker 3: But then I went to the cemetery where my family
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: is buried. And it's a lot of unmarked graves. You
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: can see them because the stones are on the graves.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: And I didn't expect to find anything, quite frankly. I
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: came across the grave of my great-great-grandmother.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Wow. She was born in 1845.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: She died in 1909. And it knocked me off my feet, literally.
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  Speaker 3: So I just, you know, I took that as a
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: sign that, you know, I get asked a lot about
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: the historic nature of this campaign. And I've said repeatedly,
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: it's so much more personal to me because I come
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: from people who were once enslaved in this state. And
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: the fact that I am now the nominee, I think
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: speaks to the possibilities when generations make the right decisions,
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: and make decisions that allow everybody opportunity.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: You know, Election Day is one of those moments when,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: you know, you've done everything you can, right? Like, you
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: done shook all the hands, kissed all the babies, you
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: done knocked on all the doors, and now the decision
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: is in the hands of the voters. How difficult is
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: it for you to surrender control?
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: You know what, Charlamagne, I can tell you from the
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: beginning of this campaign, I've just tried to do what
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: I knew in my heart and what I believe God
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: would have me to do. And I've said I've done
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: all that I humanly can do. I don't know what
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: else I can do physically, emotionally, mentally. And it's up
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: to God and the people at this point.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Are you somebody who trusts God?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I know you do.
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  Speaker 1: I know you trust God's divine process, but do you
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: trust the process or do you find yourself worrying about
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: every possible outcome in regards to how this could turn out?
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: No, you know, I just, as a person of faith,
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: I want his will to be done. But I also
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: know faith without works is dead. So, you know, I
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: can't just believe and then sit at home and do
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: nothing without I believed, and then we went out and
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: did the work. And to be up against a billionaire
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: who's put over $ 200 million, and for us, depending on
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: the poll, we're either tied or leading, it speaks just
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: to the power that the people have. And you can
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: go up against giants, but the bigger they are, the
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: harder they fall, I believe. And this man has been
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: a giant when it comes to his money. But it's
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: like I said to our supporters last night, he ain't
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: no match for our God. So, you know, my faith
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: is strong and my work ethic is unparalleled. So we've
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: done the work. I have an incredible team of volunteers,
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: a meek and mighty team and my campaign staff. And
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: we're running through the tape. Right.
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: And if you're joining us right now on Netflix, I
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: know a lot of you guys just tuned in.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: We're talking to you.
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: Keisha Lance Bottoms, who's running for governor of Georgia today.
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  Speaker 4: And she's telling you guys to get out there and vote, vote, vote, vote.
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  Speaker 4: Make sure you leave the house. Make sure I know
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: that a lot of you guys are exhausted. Bring your
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: ass out and get it to the polls today.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Do you have a particular prayer, Keisha, or scripture or
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: spiritual practice that helps you stay grounded on a day
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: like today?
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  Speaker 3: You know, my favorite, there are two. My grandmother's scripture says,
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: was all things work for the good of those who
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: And then Proverbs 19, 21, many are the plans of
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails.
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  Speaker 3: So many are the plans of a woman's heart, but
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: his purpose will always prevail. And I just tell people,
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: you know, even if you aren't in Georgia, you may
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: know somebody who knows somebody in Georgia. Everybody got a
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: cousin in Georgia. I got 25 of them who came
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: from Chicago yesterday. So everybody knows somebody. Let's just all
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: do our part because I truly believe so goes Georgia,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: goes the South, and so the South goes America.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: My last question, Keisha, when you put your head on
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: the pillow tonight, okay, Regardless of the results, what do
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: you want to be able to say to yourself about
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: this journey?
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: I want to be able to say that I was
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: obedient and I did right by the people. That when
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: I prayed at the beginning of this campaign about whether
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: or not I should get in, and I was so
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: glad I actually did a selfie video. You know, I
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: was really uncomfortable getting out of my comfort zone. But
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: I knew it was the thing that I was supposed
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: to do. And I just my prayer is that I've
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: done right by the people as I've gone throughout this
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: campaign trail and God willing, when I'm victorious, that I'll
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: be the leader that he wants me to be. And
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: right now people are hurting and people people need leaders
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: to stand in the gap. So I just I hope
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: to continue to be able to do the work that
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: needs to be done.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: I hope when you put your head on that pillow tonight,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: you know, you're putting your head on that pillow as
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: the governor of Georgia.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: That's what I hope. Absolutely.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: And real quick, how do you wrap your hair at night?
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Girl is sitting.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Yes. Let me tell you, this hair has done about
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: all it can do. It's so smooth looking, though.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: It's nice.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: I just hope that my hair appointment doesn't get bumped
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: before I have to go on that stage.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Well, Keisha Lance Bottoms, we appreciate you checking in and
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: good luck today.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: We wish you the best.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: Thank you. Appreciate you all.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: No problem. It's The Breakfast Club. It's Keisha Lance Bottoms.