It’s no secret that there has been a huge push for President-elect Joe Biden to appoint Black women to his cabinet. The incoming administration has already set the tone with Kamala Harris as vice president, not to mention having Symone Sanders and Karine Jean-Pierre on its all-women communications team. Most recently, Biden picked Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge to serve as our next housing and urban development secretary (although a lot of people are pissed that she wasn’t chosen to head up the U.S. Department of Agriculture). Well apparently, the Biden administration was looking to add Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to its cabinet, but she turned the position down in order to focus on leading her city.
Rashad Taylor, Bottoms’ senior adviser, confirmed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the mayor was offered a position in Biden’s cabinet without specifying what that position was.
“Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined,” Taylor said in a statement. “The Mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia. Out of respect for the process, and the other candidates under consideration, no additional comment will be forthcoming on this matter at this time.”
Before Biden was elected as America’s 46th president—a thing y’all’s president-reject and his loyal cult still refuse to properly acknowledge—Bottoms’ name was among a slew of Black women suggested as a possible running mates and cabinet members for Biden should he win the presidency.
According to AJC, there was “wide speculation” on social media that Bottoms turned down an appointment by Biden to be ambassador to the Bahamas. Taylor denied that rumor saying, “She was never offered an Ambassadorship.”
Ah well, Bottoms in Biden’s cabinet was certainly a nice thought, but Atlanta needs her. As an Atlanta-area resident, I have to say, I’m glad she’s still in charge of the city.