On Monday, Brian Kemp, Shane Hazel, and Stacey Abrams engaged in their lone debate as candidates for governor of Georgia.
Their plans for the future and the current condition of the state were portrayed in marked contradiction; each one deviates from the general perspective of their party.
Abrams Apologizes
Abrams and Kemp don’t get along very well.
It was clear when they faced off against one other in the 2018 election, which Abrams stubbornly did not concede. At one time, Kemp reprimanded Abrams for interrupting him; she later apologized.
Among other things, Hazel, Abrams, and Kemp disagreed on the state of Georgia’s economy. Kemp, who led the nation in restoring small companies quickly after the COVID-19 lockdown started, can run on the platform of a relatively robust state economy.
News Analysis🔎 @StaceyAbrams and @GovKemp clashed on #Georgia’s economy, among other issues, at a recent debate.
What makes this race unusual is that Kemp can campaign on a relatively strong state economy, amid a weak global #Economy and high #Inflation. https://t.co/0X7hk7C7M6
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) October 19, 2022
Kemp claimed if the state’s economy had not fared well with the prompt reopening of the corporate world, the funds would have been used to make up for missed tax income.
Abrams campaigned against Kemp’s economic management, but was unable on Monday to dispute his claim that Georgia has the lowest rate of unemployment for African-Americans in the nation.
According to Abrams, the state has not done enough to assist minority-owned enterprises. Kemp claimed by helping small businesses, notably minority-owned ones, during the epidemic, many of them were able to continue operating.
Georgia Candidates Switch Sides in Interpreting the Economy https://t.co/v8uHS5wQ3h #Economy #Business
— economynews2020 (@economynews2020) October 19, 2022
Regarding China’s purchase of farms in Georgia and the potential threat it poses, Abrams attacked Kemp. The third contender in the Atlanta Press Club debate, Libertarian Shane Hazel, was the object of her opening question, which was actually aimed at Kemp.
According to Abrams, “the state of Georgia is witnessing the Chinese Communist Party buying up our land. Even though we don’t typically talk about that, it is something we need to be worried about. Our leading business is agriculture. Georgia is home to 13 military sites.”
Last Monday, she and fellow Georgia Democrat Nikema Williams charged Kemp’s administration with financing the Chinese purchases.
They also chastised him for permitting state government agencies to utilize WeChat, which they said former President Trump and President Biden both assessed to be a security risk.
Kemp Challenges the Biden Administration
What role the government had in Chinese agricultural acquisitions under Kemp was obscure. Recently, the issue has been more well-known, in part because some of these corporations’ land purchases are close to military installations.
Sanford Bishop, a fellow Georgia Democrat who serves the 2nd Congressional District in southwest Georgia and chairs the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, is one lawmaker who participated in it.
Bishop, whose committee is considering a bill to prevent Chinese-owned firms from purchasing American farmland, didn’t act urgently and instead tried to diffuse any potential acrimony the matter might cause.
According to December 2020Â information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Georgia does not have a particularly bad issue with foreign ownership of farmland, in comparison to other states.
This article appeared in Conservative Cardinal and has been published here with permission.
