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Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has pulled in $52,000 in income from a controversial foundation that has a history of dishing out millions to those who advocate defunding the police and preach that racism is rooted in capitalism.
Abrams is a featured board member of the Seattle-based Marguerite Casey Foundation, but when asked about her affiliation with the radical group, her campaign clammed up.
Staffers did not respond to multiple requests from the Washington Examiner but told Fox News that Abrams’s views do not necessarily align with the organization, though they did not provide details.
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Abrams, 48, is in a tight race against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to lead the state. Both candidates went head to head four years ago, with Kemp edging out Abrams. Their rematch is one of the most highly anticipated gubernatorial races in the country.
Abrams has been trying to court the centrist and progressive factions in her party but has been struggling to achieve consensus on a number of issues. Political analysts say the key to beating Kemp this time around is to hold the suburban moderates who voted for Abrams in 2018. However, her ties to the far-left foundation could jeopardize that plan.
The foundation claims that it is “universally committed to building a just economy and fully realized democracy” and to “providing unfettered support to the bold strategies and leadership that are required to bring about major change in our lifetime.”
The foundation adds that it is “unapologetic about our commitment to racial justice and other key principles of transformation.”
For the past two years, the organization has hosted a Freedom Scholars Award ceremony that doles out $250,000 to those “leading research in critical fields including abolitionist, black, feminist, queer, radical, and anti-colonialist studies.”
The far-left group has also repeatedly voiced its support for defunding and abolishing the police, a topic Abrams has worked hard to dodge. She has shied away from publicly embracing the hard-line rhetoric of the movement in the past, but her involvement with the Marquerite Casey Foundation could put her on the spot.
The foundation, as recently as March 10, tweeted #DefundthePolice after sharing a Washington Post story about the “hidden billion-dollar cost of repeated police misconduct.”
On Feb. 11, the foundation tweeted support for abolishing law enforcement and prison systems that included the #AbolishthePolice hashtag.
The foundation’s $1.5 million annual award “counters the limited financial resources and research constraints frequently faced by scholars whose work supports social movements,” the foundation said.
One of the professors who received an award was Robin D.G. Kelley, who teaches African American history at UCLA and argued on NPR that capitalism is inherently racist.
“The secret to capitalism’s survival is racism,” he said.
Georgia Democratic strategist David McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner that Abrams’s affiliation with the group isn’t likely to leave a huge dent in her popularity.
“Just because you take money from a group doesn’t mean you support everything they say,” he said.
McLaughlin pointed to another board member, Julian Castro, as an example.
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Castro served as the secretary of housing and urban development under former President Barack Obama and was also mayor of San Antonio.
“Julian Castro is by no means considered a radical, and he’s in the group,” McLaughlin argued.
