(CHICAGO) — Keisha Lance Bottoms served as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 2018 to 2022, before joining the Biden administration as senior adviser and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement until 2023.
She served the Biden campaign as a senior adviser, a role she has also taken on with the Harris-Walz campaign.
At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Bottoms sat down with ABC News’ Linsey Davis on Tuesday to talk about organizing the gathering in the wake of President Biden’s decision not to run in November, her home state’s election board and the message the Harris-Walz campaign needs to send to win in November.
ABC NEWS: We are joined now by former Atlanta mayor, Biden senior campaign adviser, Ms. Keisha Lance Bottoms. Thank you so much for joining us.
BOTTOMS: Thank you for having me, Linsey.
ABC NEWS: So let’s talk about 30 days that it’s been for you guys to get all this together. Give us a sense of behind the scenes, what it took.
BOTTOMS: Well, it seems like it’s been dog years, I think, for all of America. But of course, there were plans underway, [2024 DNC Chair] Minyon Moore and the entire team have done an incredible job in not only pulling this convention together, but then making a pivot to make sure that this convention is fitting for Vice President Kamala Harris.
And you can feel the energy in this building. You see the lights, you hear the music. But there is such excitement and enthusiasm. And then, of course, such a warm response to President Biden last night.
ABC NEWS: Of course Georgia once again, in major play. We have JD Vance, who’s heading to Georgia later on this week. Let’s talk about the changes that were made, the state election board changes that could actually potentially delay certification. What does that mean? What’s being done to try to combat it?
BOTTOMS: It is unbelievable that in 2024, the state election board in Georgia is still talking about the 2020 election and attempting to revisit this alleged steal that didn’t happen in 2020. But I was so glad to see that the secretary of state has spoken up, spoken out against the changes proposed. The attorney general has spoken out.
And by the way, these are both Republican election officials who said enough is enough. We need to move forward. Focus on 2024, making sure we are preserving the integrity of this election. And so I think what’s happening in Georgia is that there is bipartisan agreement that we need to move on, and it would be great if so many other states would do the same.
ABC NEWS: You talked about the emotional speech and reception that Joe Biden got in here last night. He talked during that speech about appointing the first Black and South Asian woman as his vice president, delivering on his promise to appoint Ketanji [Brown Jackson] as a Supreme Court justice, first Black woman to the Supreme Court.
What do you think that will mean? How will it resonate for Black voters? Because as we know, we saw during the RNC, Donald Trump is actively pursuing Black voters.
BOTTOMS: Yeah. And to his credit, he’s not taking anyone for granted. And that’s why it’s going to be important for all of us as surrogates — we heard the president do it last night — to remind people what his presidency, what the Biden-Harris administration has meant for African Americans, he made commitments that he kept: first African American woman on the Supreme Court and so many other federal appointments of people of color. And the Court of Appeals and district courts.
And I think all of us are keenly aware, I have a, I’m a lawyer, so I pay attention to courts, but most Americans don’t. But of course, we know with the Dobbs decision and so many other decisions coming from the Supreme Court – people are really starting to pay attention as to what these lifetime appointments mean for their day-to-day lives. So we just gotta keep reminding people that this president, this vice president made a difference.
Kamala Harris has been a strong partner and leader in this White House. And the president laid out the work that she’s going to, that she’s taking the baton and the work that she’s going to continue and expand upon.
ABC NEWS: Keisha Lance bottoms, we thank you so much for your time, really appreciate you joining us.
BOTTOMS: Thank you for having me.
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