President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to go to Georgia on Saturday to campaign alongside Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are facing strong Democratic challengers in the runoffs on January 5 that will determine the fate of Senate control.
Republicans still see Pres. Trump to be the party’s biggest booster. In Georgia, President-elect Joe Biden just won by a razor-thin margin of fewer than 13,000 votes. This means Trump’s visit could buoy the hopes of their allies in securing the key battleground state.
Republicans need one more seat for a majority. This win could mark a strong challenge to the Biden administration’s policies, and would fend off a Blue wave totally dominating Washington.
On the other hand, Democrats would need Jon Ossoff to beat out Perdue and Raphael Warnock to defeat Loeffler to force a 50-50 Senate. This would position Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking majority vote.
Gabriel Sterling, one of Georgia’s top elections officials, earlier rebuked the state’s senators and Pres. Trump in the wake of the Trump campaign mounting a strong legal battle to overturn poll results. Sterling reportedly decried the intimidation from the Trump team which targeted Georgia’s election workers.
Sterling appealed to Pres. Trump to accept his defeat and “stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence.”
Pres. Trump, however, stood his ground. In a tweet, the chief executive made it clear that he will not back down despite his campaign facing losses in recent weeks.
He said in a tweet, “Rigged Election. Show signatures and envelopes. Expose the massive voter fraud in Georgia. What is Secretary of State and [Georgia Governor Brian Kemp] afraid of. They know what we’ll find!,” he said.
Rigged Election. Show signatures and envelopes. Expose the massive voter fraud in Georgia. What is Secretary of State and @BrianKempGA afraid of. They know what we’ll find!!! https://t.co/Km7tRm2s1A
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2020
Pres. Trump has branded Georgia Governor Brian Kemp as “hapless” for not intervening to “overrule” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s move to certify Biden’s victory.
Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have called on Raffensperger to resign. They have accused the official of running an unfair poll process.
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