Abrams, the Democrat who is challenging Kemp for governor, responded by touting the sheriff’s endorsements Sunday night, saying, “I’m not in the good ole boys club. So, no, I don’t have 107 sheriffs who want to be able to to get black people off the streets, who want to be able to get away without responsibility.” In northeast Georgia, Jackson County Sheriff Janice Magum, the second elected female sheriff in the state’s history, told Fox News Digital she found the comments “disgusting” and indicative that Abrams did not care about law enforcement. “I don’t care as a sheriff what color your skin is. We take an oath to serve and protect the people and enforce the laws of the state of Georgia,” he said. “And that’s what we do every day. It was an insult to the Georgia sheriffs who support him and all law enforcement. … I’ve been in this business 36 years and I’ve never done anything to tarnish my badge or colleagues My sheriffs are good people who support him. And I was kind of disgusted to hear that… I don’t even know what to say, it’s just wrong. It’s completely wrong.” STACEY ABRAMS CHARGES GEORGIA SHERIFFS AS A ‘GOOD OLE BOYS CLUB’ WHILE SEEKS TO SUPPORT ENCOURAGEMENT LEGISLATION Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams (Getty) In neighboring Barrow County, Sheriff Jud Smith agreed with Mangum, calling the comment a “slap in the face” to Georgia voters who supported sheriffs in their districts, as well as every officer of every race in his department. “Her comments were vile and disgusting, and it just goes to show you that her camp, her group is defaming and demonizing law enforcement,” he said. “And it’s not just a dig at sheriffs. It’s a dig at every law enforcement officer in the state, whether they support her or not. … At this point, I think she’s just grasping at straws.” He was particularly troubled by her “good guys” comment, saying it essentially smears cops as white supremacists. Mangum said the media environment had effectively “demoralized the law enforcement profession.” Calling herself humbled and honored to be in her 10th year as sheriff, she said she had never seen such negativity in the press since she began her career 36 years ago as a dispatcher. “We’re going to run into that danger when people who want to reimburse the police call and need help. We’re going to run to it. We’re not going to run away from it,” Mangum said. “Our people go to work every day not knowing if they’re going to go home in the afternoon … I feel like sometimes the media gives us such a bad rap, and we come to work every day trying to do our job the best we can.” NOMINATED PHOTO: GEORGIA FEC BRIAN KEMP TALK INFLATION, CRIME, STAY ABRAMS He has personal, tragic experience with this possibility. Kemp was the first to call her when one of her Jackson County deputies, Lena Marshall, was killed in the line of duty a year ago. From left, Sheriff Judd Smith, Stacey Abrams and Barrow County (Ga.) Sheriff Janice Magum. (Fox News) “That meant a lot to me coming from the governor of Georgia to get that call at the most tragic, devastating time for me as a sheriff and the employees of my sheriff’s office,” he said. “So to support him and support him is because of the good work he’s doing.” The Georgia Sheriffs’ Association does not make political endorsements, but spoke strongly after Abrams’ comments. “Georgia sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and other law enforcement officers do not seek to arrest or detain individuals based on race,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We seek to identify and prosecute violators of our state’s traffic and criminal law in an effort to protect all Georgians and others. To state or imply otherwise is grossly inaccurate, divisive and dangerously misleading to the public. “ Georgia Sheriffs Association Executive Director Terry Norris told Fox News Digital that he believed Abrams was being honest with her comments. He added that observations like hers made it difficult to recruit new police officers in an already crowded environment. “I think her true feelings came out. I mean, no matter what was said, she didn’t come across to me as someone who supports law enforcement,” he said, adding, “Our kids and the police officers are the ones who show up when the scene it’s not settled and it’s still dangerous. So comments like that are very damaging to us finding people and attracting people to our profession.” Whoever the next governor is, Norris said, the best immediate way to support police would be to suspend any new criminal justice reform and help local municipalities pay police officers more. Kemp touted 107 sheriff endorsements in Sunday night’s debate with Abrams, but his campaign said he had 111 as of Tuesday. Among them is Sheriff Charles Davis, who is Black, of Quitman County in southwest Georgia. Kemp is trying to win a second term by defeating Abrams, a media star after her narrow loss to Kemp in 2018. She has trained fire on him for his positions on gun control, abortion and voting rights. Polls have shown Kemp with a steady lead in the state, which President Biden narrowly won in 2020. Abrams was widely credited with helping him become the first Democrat since 1992 to win it in a presidential election. STACEY ABRAMS SAYS POLICE COMMENTS TAKEN ‘OFF CONTENT’, SUGGESTS POSSIBLE ABORTION RESTRICTIONS National news coverage in recent years has often focused on officer-involved shootings of African-Americans, and media attention to corrupt police officers and the Black Lives Matter movement has prompted some far-left politicians to call for cuts in police funding or eliminating police budgets altogether. Smith felt that the media environment surrounding policing played a role in Abrams’ comments. “Absolutely. 100 percent,” he said. “I know the mainstream media wants to paint this picture that we’re bad. It’s not bad to be questioned about what you’re doing because you’re a public servant. But at the end of the day, if the media is out here to crucify you and vilify and demonize what you do, but only do it when it fits a certain narrative, that’s the problem.” Serious incidents like the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and the hate crime killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia – one of the perpetrators was a former police officer – are just a few of the national stories over the past 10 years that have shed new light in the media on how the police behave. Smith said he rejected the general premise, however, that police generally approached their work with racial hostility. Instead, he said bad cops like Floyd’s killer, Derek Chauvin, should be held accountable, but pleaded not to “spoil the bushels with one bad apple.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Abrams campaign did not respond to a request for comment. David Rutz is a senior editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @davidrutz.
