Stacey Abrams tells nodding Kamala Harris that southerners have lived under 'soft authoritarianism' since 1776

Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams suggested during an interview with Kamala Harris that the South is a useful simulation of what America overall would look like under authoritarian rule. Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams suggested to a nodding former Vice President Kamala Harris during an interview Thursday that the American South is what the United States looks like as an authoritarian country. On her "Assembly Required" podcast, Abrams, who ran unsuccessfully twice for governor of Georgia, spoke to Harris about the future of the Democratic Party and the challenges it faces, particularly in southern states. "I grew up in Mississippi, came of age in Georgia, and I know you've been spending a lot of time in the South recently. You've been to Tennessee and Louisiana and North Carolina," Abrams told Harris. "And what I tell people when t

Aug 13, 2026 → Aug 15, 2026