Stacey Abrams was ‘terrified’ of blowing the moment during her 2019 State of the Union response to Trump: book

• Abrams was “terrified” of missteps during her 2019 State of the Union response, per a new book.
• “The stakes were astronomically high,” wrote AJC political reporter Greg Bluestein in “Flipped.”
• Abrams delivered the speech after her narrow defeat in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election.

In November 2018, Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams narrowly lost the general election, coming up short by roughly 55,000 votes against now-Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

After years of wide gubernatorial and Senate losses for Georgia Democrats, Abrams’ narrow defeat was evidence that her strategy for rallying the party’s base — including young people and voters of color — nearly sent her to the Governor’s Mansion in a state that last went blue for governor in 1998.

As her national profile continued to soar after her loss, she was asked by then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to deliver the party’s response to then-President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in February 2019.

Although Abrams is far from shy when speaking in front of crowds, she reportedly informed friends that she was “terrified” of blowing the moment during her response to Trump, according to a new book by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution political reporter Greg Bluestein.

Many politicians in previous years had been tapped to give the State of the Union response because of their rising-star status within their respective parties, but some attracted less-than-stellar reviews while delivering the nationally-televised speech, as Bluestein detailed in “Flipped: How Georgia Turned Purple and Broke the Monopoly on Republican Power.”

“The stakes were astronomically high,” he wrote. “Bobby Jindal had been skewered for his animatronic response to President [Barack] Obama’s first speech to Congress in 2009. Florida senator Marco Rubio’s ill-timed water break in 2013 drowned out any attention he got from the remarks.”

He added: “In 2018, the too-glistening lips of a Massachusetts Democrat dominated the news coverage of the speech, washing over the message he wanted to deliver. WAS THAT DROOL COMING OUT OF JOE KENNEDY’S MOUTH? a Politico headline asked.”

According to Bluestein, Abrams was intent on not meeting the same fate, although Schumer had full confidence in her abilities.

“Abrams wasn’t going to leave anything to chance,” Bluestein wrote. “She was at her best when she could feed off the energy and the enthusiasm of a live audience, and her team had about a week to line up a venue and vendors for the speech after a federal government shutdown was finally resolved.”

He continued: “The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers had been the first union to endorse Abrams, and leaders of the local chapter immediately agreed to allow her to use its union hall in downtown Atlanta … for the speech. It also offered a symbolic change of tone from the ornate US House chambers in Washington where Trump delivered his address, presenting viewers a subtle reminder of Democratic support for organized labor.”

According to Bluestein, Abrams crafted the speech herself, even making last-minute edits while Trump was still giving his address. And she had some advice from Rubio on her mind when she was finally set to speak.

“Hydration is a very good idea. Trust me on this,” the Florida Republican told Abrams.

In her speech, Abrams recounted her days as a lawmaker in the Georgia legislature and spoke of her willingness to work constructively with Republicans.

“For seven years, I led the Democratic Party in the Georgia House of Representatives,” she said at the time. “I didn’t always agree with the Republican Speaker or Governor, but I understood that our constituents didn’t care about our political parties — they cared about their lives. So, when we had to negotiate criminal justice reform or transportation or foster care improvements, the leaders of our state didn’t shut down — we came together.”

Abrams — whose voter registration efforts in the last decade were critical in the statewide victories of now-President Joe Biden in November 2020 and now-Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the January 2021 runoff elections — is currently running in this year’s gubernatorial election in Georgia.