USA Today stealth edited Stacey Abrams op-ed in support of Georgia boycott and Politifact used it to defend her from critics



USA Today admitted that they allowed an edit to an op-ed written by Stacey Abrams be made without citing the change, and that op-ed was erroneously used by Politifact to defend her from her critics.

The piece was published at USA Today on March 31, just days before Major League Baseball pulled their game from Atlanta, Georgia, over exaggerated accusations against the state's new election reforms.

In it, Abrams advocated for boycotts to pressure politicians to cave to demands from Democrats. But in a later version of the op-ed, it was edited in order to water down her support for the use of boycotts against Georgia.

That revised op-ed was then cited by Politifact to defend Abrams from critics blaming her for the economic damage to the state from the boycott.

Republican strategist Matt Whitlock documented the dishonest shenanigans on Twitter.

Not over the fact that Stacey Abrams published an op-Ed about the Georgia law saying “boycotts work,” and she would… https://t.co/yDPDhhtClC
— Matt Whitlock (@Matt Whitlock)1619279257.0

Politifact later added an editor's note and added a minor clarification that the op-ed had been changed from its previous version.

"We updated this article after initial publication to clarify the publication dates of Abrams' USA Today op-ed," they added.

The original version of the op-ed penned by Abrams was far more supportive of the boycott:

"Events hosted by major league baseball, world class soccer, college sports and dozens of Hollywood films hang in the balance. At the same time, activists urge Georgians to swear off of hometown products to express our outrage. Until we hear clear, unequivocal statements that show Georgia-based companies get what's at stake, I can't argue with an individual's choice to opt for their competition."

While the revised version makes it sound as if Abrams preferred other protests against the law:

"Instead of a boycott, I strongly urge other events and productions to do business in Georgia and speak out against our law and similar proposals in other states."

Politifact faced similar criticism over its biased rating against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his statements about the court-packing schemes of the Democrats.

Here's more about the boycott against Georgia:

Georgia Democrat flips position on boycotts as economic costs loomwww.youtube.com

21 black leaders call out ‘despicable smear campaign’ against Georgia voting law



Nearly two dozen civil rights leaders and black conservatives have stepped up to defend Georgia's much-maligned voting law against inaccurate criticisms that the new law is racist and akin to "Jim Crow in the 21st century," the Daily Signal reported.

What are the details?

In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, several prominent black leaders — including Heritage Foundation President Kay James and former Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission Ken Blackwell — blasted what they called a "despicable smear campaign" against the law.

"It has become clear that even well-intentioned critics of the law simply have no idea what the law is," the letter stated in reference to repeated lies about the law peddled by a litany of Democratic political figures, including President Joe Biden.

Last month, Biden earned "Four Pinocchios" from Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler over his repeated claims that the law "ends voting hours early so working people can't cast their vote after their shift is over." The president also called the law racist, saying it "makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle."

"It is clear they have no idea how favorably Georgia's new law compares with most other states — including President Biden's home state of Delaware," the letter went on. "And it is clear they have no idea that a majority of Black voters across the country support the key provision under attack by critics — the simple requirement that voters be able to identify themselves when voting."

The civil rights leaders also took a deliberate shot at Major League Baseball and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines for their protests of the reforms, saying, "This is the same simple requirement needed to pick up baseball tickets or board a plane — activities hardly as important as voting."

Last month, the MLB opted to move its annual All-Star game out of Georgia in protest over the new law. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian protested as well, wrongly claiming the law "could make it harder for many Georgians, particularly those in our Black and Brown communities, to exercise their right to vote."

What else?

The Daily Signal noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, planned to hold a hearing Tuesday morning, titled, "Jim Crow 2021: The Latest Assault on the Right to Vote."

The hearing featured testimonies from progressive newly elected Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), controversial former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and Republican Rep. Burgess Owens (Utah), among others.

During the hearing, Owens shamed Biden and other Democrats over their "absolutely outrageous" comparison of the new law to Jim Crow laws of the old segregationist South.

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock caught endorsing blatant lies about Georgia's new voting law



Newly elected Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is in hot water this week after it was revealed that he signed onto a third-party email that contained blatantly false information about his state's new voting law.

What are the details?

The Washington Post reported on Monday that the progressive lawmaker, who was elected to the Senate in the state's Jan. 5 runoffs, "signed an email sent out by the advocacy group 3.14 Action after the law passed, which claimed it ended no-excuse mail voting and restricted early voting on the weekends" — both of which were early proposals that ultimately didn't make it into the law.

The outlet added that a spokesperson for the senator claimed Warnock signed off on the email days before the law was passed when the aforementioned provisions were still under consideration. But that claim is obfuscated by the fact that the email was sent several days after the bill became law.

According to Fox News, the email was sent on March 30, five days after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law.

Either way, the imaging is bad, Hot Air noted in its coverage of the news.

"Which possibility is worse?" the outlet asked. "That Warnock knew an activist group's email which he endorsed was full of lies and endorsed it anyway because it was effective propaganda for his cause? Or that the substance of Georgia's law is so irrelevant to prefab Democratic demagoguery about 'Jim Crow 2.0' that Warnock just didn't care if the email was accurate or not?"'

What's the background?

The law — which aims to further secure state elections by requiring a photo ID for mail-in ballots and actually expands early voting hours — has been the subject of fierce scrutiny and numerous false attacks by Democratic politicians and media organizations since its introduction in the state legislature.

Last month, President Joe Biden earned "Four Pinocchios" from Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler for twice repeating a lie that the law "ends voting hours early so working people can't cast their vote." The president's statement was a complete reversal of the truth, which is that the law expands voting hours and days for early voting.

Biden has also on several occasions chosen to characterize the law as the "new Jim Crow" and earlier this month backed calls demanding that Major League Baseball move its All-Star Game out of the state.

Warnock would later frame the MLB's decision as an "unfortunate" consequence of Republicans' decision to move forward on the voting law.

"It is my hope that businesses, athletes, and entertainers can protest this law not by leaving Georgia but by coming here and fighting voter suppression head on, and hand-in-hand with the community," he said in a statement.

Several major businesses, such as Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, have openly criticized the law following Democrats' smear campaign against it. Biden last week warned Republicans in Georgia and elsewhere to "smarten up" or else lose more business over similar legislation.