Delta CEO blasts Georgia voting law as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘based on a lie’ after backlash

Delta CEO Ed Bastian on Wednesday blasted a controversial GOP-backed Georgia voting law after facing backlash on social media for not coming out strongly enough against the new rules. The bill, signed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last week, is set to require identification for absentee voting, limit ballot drop boxes and prohibit offering food or water to voters in line. President Joe Biden called the bill “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” “Last week, the Georgia legislature passed a sweeping voting reform act that could make it harder for many Georgians, particularly those in our Black and Brown communities, to exercise their right to vote,” Bastian said in a staff memo Wednesday. “Since the bill’s inception, Delta joined other major Atlanta corporations to work closely with elected officials from both parties, to try and remove some of the most egregious measures from the bill,” Bastian wrote. “We had some success in eliminating the most suppressive tactics that some had proposed. However, I need to make it crystal clear that the final bill is unacceptable and does not match Delta’s values.”<br/>