President Joe Biden’s campaign has accused the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of attempting to influence the election through a critical editorial. Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior advisor to Biden and former Atlanta Mayor, voiced these concerns during an MSNBC interview with Chris Jansing.
Bottoms criticized the newspaper’s editorial board for recommending that Biden withdraw from the presidential race, labeling it as an act of election interference. “As we have talked about making sure that we’re protecting elections and making sure there’s no undue influence, this was undue influence by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or an attempt to influence,” she asserted.
When Jansing challenged Bottoms by noting that the editorial board was fulfilling its journalistic responsibilities, Bottoms insisted that such actions undermined fair elections. “Editorial boards are supposed to honor fair elections. I don’t think it’s fair when an editorial board with ten people sitting in a room are trying to influence an election, especially in a state like Georgia where there’s already been discussions about influencing elections,” she responded.
Bottoms stressed that voters should independently decide on their preferred candidate, despite the Democratic Party not conducting primary debates. She further criticized the media for not equally highlighting Donald Trump’s controversies, including his legal battles and indictment in Fulton County. “If you’re going to ask a candidate to step aside, let’s also look at Donald Trump’s record and all of the reasons, including his indictment in Fulton County, trying to influence the secretary of state, his convictions,” Bottoms remarked.
In her closing comments, Bottoms defended Biden’s performance despite the criticism, stating, “I’ll take a 90-minute bad night over the totality of Donald Trump’s presidency any day of the week.”