Keisha Lance Bottoms reportedly turned down Biden cabinet position
According to a statement, 'the Mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia.'
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms recently confirmed that she turned down a cabinet position in the Biden administration.
“Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined,” a Bottoms spokesperson said in a released statement.
“The Mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia,” the statement said. “Out of respect for the process, and the other candidates under consideration, no additional comment will be forthcoming on this matter at this time.”
It has been speculated that Bottoms was offered a role as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, however, her office’s statement dismissed that rumor.
“She was never offered an ambassadorship,” the statement said.
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Bottoms was an early supporter of Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, endorsing the former vice president in June of 2019. In an interview with Jonathan Capehart in August, she talked about throwing her support behind Biden: “We know Joe, and Joe knows us. He’s known working people all his life. He’s a blue-collar guy that never forgot where he came from. He knows the importance of a job is more than just wages. It’s about dignity, and it’s about respect, and Joe actually understands that.”
In November, Bottoms tweeted a clip from a February interview in which she quoted Outkast rapper and iconic Atlantan Andre 3000. “You know, there’s a great line from Andre 3000,” she noted, “and it’s ‘The South has something to say.’”
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She shared the quote in reference to Georgia’s phenomenal flip from red to blue during the 2020 presidential election, the results of which have been disputed by President Donald Trump and his supporters. The state has recounted its votes twice, and its results were certified by Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans.
Bottoms was elected mayor of Atlanta in 2017. Her rejection of a post in the Biden administration is by and large an indication that the popular Democratic mayor plans to run for re-election in 2021.
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