Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on Saturday that the decision to remove the game from the Major League Baseball stars because of objections to changes in his state’s electoral laws was a “political game”.
Appearing on “Fox & Friends Weekend”, Kemp said it was “unfortunate” that the league “gave in to cancel the culture” and accused President Biden, Georgia activist Stacey Abrams and “many other people” of lying about the project. electoral law. recently signed into law.
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“It really is a sad day for the Major League Baseball,” said the Republican governor. “As someone who grew up playing baseball as a child and a fan, he played in high school, you know, a big Braves fan – I mean, this is terrible for the organization. It is terrible for the fans. It is terrible for the small business owners of the metropolitan community. from Atlanta and our state, who was eager to host this game and invested a lot of resources in it. All because of a big lie. “
Kemp signed the project on March 25. The legislation imposes new restrictions on voting by mail, adds voter identification requirements and limits ballot boxes. It also determines two Saturdays for early voting before the general elections, an increase of just one, and leaves two Sundays as optional.
ARCHIVE – On this March 25, 2021, photo from the archive of Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, second from the right, leaves the Georgia State Capitol building after sanctioning a comprehensive Republican-sponsored state election reform that includes new postal voting restrictions and greater legislative control over how elections are held in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Archives)
Finally, it prohibits outside groups from distributing food or water to those waiting in line to vote.
Critics argue that Republican-sponsored legislation is an attempt to suppress Democratic votes. Biden criticized the law, calling it “despicable” and “anti-American” at his first press conference last month.
“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century. This should end,” he said in a March 23 statement.
In his own statement on Friday, Abrams wrote that Republican lawmakers defended the bill “knowing economic risks” and “prioritized making it more difficult for people of color to vote on the economic well-being of all Georgians”.
“I am disappointed that the MLB is relocating the All-Star game; however, I commend the players, owners and commissioner of the League for speaking out. I urge others in leadership positions to do the same,” she said. “As I said, I respect boycotts, although I do not want to see Georgian families harmed by lost jobs and events. Georgians affected by the crackdown on voters will be harmed when opportunities go to other states. We must not abandon the victims of the Republican Party malice and lies – we must stay together. “
Abrams urged Georgia’s Republicans to “renounce the terrible damage that caused [Georgia’s] voting system “and” the damage they have inflicted on our economy “.
Increasing pressure, Biden’s statements and support from activists like Abrams led MLB commissioner Robert Manfred to announce the change.
“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports the right to vote for all Americans and is opposed to restrictions at the ballot box,” he said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian also called the law “unacceptable”, and Coca-Cola chief executive James Quincey said the legislation was a “step backwards”.
However, Kemp argued – echoing his interview on Friday at “Tucker Carlson Tonight” – that the bill “does not suppress anything” and argued that the new law compares favorably with New York.
“We have 17 days of early voting in person. New York has 10. This bill adds the opportunity for people to potentially vote on two optional Sundays, which would potentially give some counties 19 days,” he told Fox and Friends “hosts.
“Are we boycotting them because they’re in New York? No. This is just the culture of cancellation, and I’m going to tell you, people at home should be scared because their ball game is next, their business will be next, your way of life will be the next. “
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Kemp said that Biden was not being sincere and that “suppression” was “just a buzzword” used to “intimidate” CEOs and corporate boards.
“None of them are citing details in the bill. If you notice, they’re just saying, you know, ‘This is a step back.’ Or, you know, ‘This is wrong.’ Whatever it is, “he added.” As if none of them were pointing to details on the project, because they know very well that their people were at Capitol working with us on the project. They knew what was in it and now their position has changed. “
Kemp said he agreed with former President Donald Trump, who said in a statement on Friday that the MLB leadership was “afraid of radical Left Democrats”.
“Boycott baseball and all the wake-up companies that are interfering with free and fair elections. You are listening to Coca, Delta and everything!” he said.
“Well, I think [former] president – like me – is very frustrated with this canceled culture “, commented Kemp, noting that the Atlanta Braves organization did not support the MLB decision and that “even Democrats are saying how wrong it is to change the game”.
He said he would be “happy” to have a discussion with the MLB on the issue – a sentiment mirrored by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger – but noted that he believes the “handbook for this” has been “written more than a month ago. . “because Democrats like Biden and Abrams thought it” was going to be bad “.
“But, you know, the end result was not because it went through the process. We worked with the House and Senate with reasonable people, we put things there to provide even more access, but we also made sure that in Georgia it is easy to vote and it is difficult to cheat. And I think they don’t agree with that “, he pondered.
Kemp pointed out that the bill had been drafted for more than four or five months and “none of these people” had “said anything”.
“The issues about which they said something, you know, at the end of the day, did not end with the bill which is how the process should work,” said Kemp. “It is very sad for baseball fans that the league has made baseball in the United States of America so political.”
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The governor believes that the liberal push for the approval of HR1, also known as the “People’s Law”, is to blame. The legislation would require all states to offer ballots and automatic voter registration, among other things.
“This is a political move by the president and Stacey Abrams and many other people who want HR1 to pass,” added Kemp.
Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.