Adviser Says Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Had Offer To Join Biden Cabinet

A close confidante of former vice-presidential hopeful Keisha Lance Bottoms has revealed that the Atlanta mayor was offered a Cabinet-level position in the forthcoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden. However, the 50-year-old reportedly elected to decline the offer in order to focus on problems facing her current constituency.

Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the revelation was made in a statement from Bottoms’ senior adviser, Rashad Taylor, a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

“Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined,” he said on Saturday, via the AJC. “The Mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia.”

One day before Taylor’s statement hit the press, it had been rumored that Bottoms was approached about becoming the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, as reported by The New Yorker‘s Charles Bethea via Twitter. It was a curious turn of events for a rising star in the Democratic Party, who earlier this year had been on the short list to become Biden’s running mate for the general election.

Moreover, there were recent rumblings that the one-time prosecutor, magistrate judge and city council member had been on shortlists to head up either the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Small Business Administration.

However, Taylor denied the notion that Bottoms was ever approached by the transition team about an ambassadorship.

While it appears as though she won’t be serving in the new administration — at least not initially — Bottoms played an important role in helping the president-elect win Georgia, a key battleground state that helped turn the election in his favor last month. In addition to being an early endorser and vocal supporter of Biden, she was a presence at his campaign events.

As relayed previously by The Inquisitr, she has also been a staunch critic of incumbent President Donald Trump. During an appearance on CNN last month, she told Anderson Cooper that Trump would “eat his own children” if it were prudent or beneficial to him in some way.

That statement came as she criticized him for “picking a fight” with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, two Republicans who had pushed back on his claims of widespread voter fraud on their watch.

Bottoms made waves earlier this year by going to battle with Kemp when he attempted to block a mask mandate in her city. She was also a prominent voice during the Black Lives Matters protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police.