‘Stay away from my family’: Keisha Lance Bottoms confronts GOP opponent over comments about husband

Bottoms, who could become the nation’s first Black woman governor, challenges Republican Rick Jackson over family attacks.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, confronted her Republican opponent face-to-face over remarks he made about her husband.

In a video Bottoms posted on social media, the Democrat and former mayor of Atlanta called out Republican nominee Rick Jackson, demanding that he “stay away from my family.”

The two candidates are locked in a tough contest for the governor’s office, as Bottoms seeks to make history as Georgia’s first Black governor and first Black female governor in U.S. history. However, things got personal after Jackson, a billionaire health care executive, began speaking about Bottoms’ husband on the campaign trail.

In a television ad, Jackson accused her husband, Derek W. Bottoms, an attorney and executive at The Home Depot, of attending the Super Bowl on a first-class ticket funded by the city of Atlanta when Keisha Lance Bottoms served as mayor. The accusation had been refuted by Lance Bottoms, who explained, “I discovered that error even months before it became a story…when I discovered the error in those charges, I proactively reimbursed the city.”

Despite clearing up the error, Jackson still used it as a political jab years later. When Lance Bottoms recently encountered Jackson, she confronted him about it.

“You’re saying things about my husband that aren’t true. I’m fair game. Please stay away from my family,” said Bottoms.

Jackson, holding a coffee cup, told Bottoms, “I hear you,” and added, “I like your outfit” before walking away.

In a caption of the online video, Bottoms elaborated on the encounter.

“Politics can be tough, and I’m more than prepared to debate our records, our differences, and our visions for Georgia. But our families should not be dragged into misleading political attacks,” wrote the Democratic candidate. “I don’t expect a man whose company is accused of treating immigrant workers like indentured servants and defrauding Medicare to listen. But Slick Rick will hear from all of us on Election Day.”

Throughout the campaign, Bottoms has sought to tie Rick Jackson to President Donald Trump. The Republican candidate has repeatedly said that, as governor, he would “be like Trump, but with a southern tongue.”

During a previous interview with theGrio, Bottoms said if elected, she will stand up against Trump and his policies that have harmed Georgians, most especially Black Georgians, as a result of his tax cuts for the rich, spending cuts to the federal government, and his ongoing war in Iran.

“Those cuts have impacted our community health system because those funds that go into the CDC normally flow into our communities, to our public health centers,” she explained. “There’s nothing that’s gone untouched by this administration, including…Black employment in the state, our education system has been cut, housing funding cut, support for veterans has been cut. The list goes on.”