Trump Campaigns for Georgia’s Republican Senators – but Will That Help or Hurt?
President Donald Trump will stump on Saturday for Republican U.S. senators in Georgia facing January runoffs, but some in his party worry he may do more harm than good if he stays focused on personal grievances over his…
President Donald Trump will stump on Saturday for Republican U.S. senators in Georgia facing January runoffs, but some in his party worry he may do more harm than good if he stays focused on personal grievances over his loss in the Nov. 3 election.
Trump has repeatedly and without evidence asserted widespread fraud in the November election, a claim rejected by state and federal officials, including in Georgia, which Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry in a generation.
The outgoing president has also attacked Republicans who have refused to endorse his claims, such as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Statewide recounts, including a painstaking review by hand of some 5 million ballots, turned up no significant irregularities.
Trump’s penchant for making his political rallies all about him – and now, about his claims the U.S. electoral system is rigged – has raised concerns among some Republicans that his appearance in southern Georgia could end up turning voters away.
“If he spends most of his time talking about the two candidates, how wonderful they are, what they’ve achieved,” he could help, said Matt Towery, a former Georgia Republican legislator who is now a political analyst and pollster.
“If he talks about them for 10 minutes and spends the rest of the time telling everyone how terrible Brian Kemp is, then it will only exacerbate things.”
The Jan. 5 runoffs pitting the two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Democrats would need to win both seats to deny Republicans a majority they could use to block large parts of Biden’s legislative agenda.
Earlier this week, two lawyers who been involved in legal challenges to Biden’s win, Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, explicitly told Trump’s supporters not to vote in the runoffs unless Republican state leaders act more aggressively to overturn the presidential election results.