Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’s national profile is rising amid violent demonstrations sparked by the police-involved death of George Floyd, causing buzz that is raising her stock in a possible vice presidential pick by Joe Biden.
Her big moment came on Friday with an impassioned speech during a press conference, following live coverage of protesters vandalizing CNN headquarters.
“You are disgracing our city. You are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country,” she said. “You have defaced the CNN building … They are telling our stories, and you are disgracing their building.”
She described the unease she felt seeing news of Floyd’s death as the mother of black sons, comparing her pleas to her son to stay home because she could not protect him to how she feels about being unable to protect those in the streets.
“This is not the legacy of civil rights in America. This is chaos,” Bottoms ended. “Go home.”
Bottoms, 50, had sometimes been mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick before the incident. But the viral moment prompted many political observers to give the 50-year-old first-term city executive a second look.
Some of the praise came from Biden himself and those on his campaign.
On Monday, Biden held a virtual roundtable with four mayors facing unrest, including Bottoms. The former vice president and 36-year Delaware senator turned first to the Atlanta mayor, offering high praise.
“You have been incredible,” Biden said. “I’ve watched you like millions and millions of Americans have on television as of late. Your passion, your composure, your balance has been really incredible.”
Biden’s national press secretary tweeted that he was “in awe” of the mayor’s speech.
Every word of this.
In awe of @KeishaBottoms’s leadership for the city of Atlanta.
— TJ Ducklo (@TDucklo) May 30, 2020
Not only did Bottoms capture attention with her passionate plea, but she followed it up with action praised by criminal justice reform activists when she announced Sunday that two police officers were fired and three others assigned to desk duty after using excessive use of force during protests in Atlanta.
Her forceful-yet-sympathetic message to the demonstrators aligns with Biden’s statements on the matter. He has carefully avoided strong condemnations of the violence while making clear that he does not embrace it, working to shift his message to issues revolving around criminal justice, policing, and racism.
The mayor also tried out an attack dog role on Meet the Press Sunday, criticizing President Trump in a manner many analysts think will be necessary in a Biden running mate.
“He should just stop talking. This is like Charlottesville all over again. He speaks, and he makes it worse,” she said.
Bottoms also lacks baggage that others on Biden’s shortlist carry.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was widely criticized by activists for her statement on Floyd, and the killing in her home state highlighted her record as county prosecutor during which time she declined to bring charges in dozens of cases where people died after encounters with police.
The protests have renewed calls for Biden to pick a black woman to be his running mate, but the nationwide discontent with police makes the criminal justice backgrounds of two of the highest-profile black women on Biden’s list a liability.
California Sen. Kamala Harris has faced criticism for failing to embrace criminal justice reform measures when she was her state’s attorney general. Florida Rep. Val Demings, former police chief in Orlando, led a department also criticized for using excessive force.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, credited with helping to seal the South Carolina primary for Biden with his endorsement and leading to Biden sweeping primaries to seal the nomination, is one of the most vocal Biden loyalists pushing for a black woman to be his running mate and has mentioned Bottoms as a possible pick.
Atlanta is home to another high-profile possible black vice presidential pick: Stacey Abrams, the outspoken voting rights activist, 2018 gubernatorial candidate, and former state House minority leader in Georgia. But amid civil unrest, Bottoms may have an edge and authority to push herself up in the running mate search in a way that Abrams does not.
