ATLANTA — President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden will both be in Georgia on Monday to energize their bases on the eve of two crucial runoff races that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Trump’s visit comes a day after an audiotape of him pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes to reverse his election defeat to Biden was leaked to the media.
During the hourlong conversation, Trump berated, flattered, begged, and then appeared to threaten Raffensperger if he refused to overturn Biden’s win.
Throughout the call, Raffensperger, a Republican, and his office’s general counsel can be heard explaining to the president that the idea he won is based on faulty facts and conspiracy theories.
“We are in uncharted territory,” an Athens, Georgia-based strategist told the Washington Examiner. “This one is going to sting.”
Trump has also in recent days claimed Tuesday’s runoffs are “illegal and invalid,” undercutting his objective at the rally.
Trump will take the stage in Dalton, Georgia, around 9 p.m. to support Republican incumbents Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, while Biden will be in Atlanta stumping for Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. It’s the second visit to the state for both and underscores the importance of Tuesday’s contest.
If Perdue and Loeffler beat their Democratic rivals, the GOP will maintain its current control of the upper chamber of Congress and could push back on Biden’s legislative agenda. If Ossoff and Warnock win, it would give Democrats a 50-50 split, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris acting as the tiebreaker.
With so much on the line, Trump and Biden’s Monday performances could make or break the race.
Biden is expected to echo some of the same sentiments he made during his Dec. 15 drive-in rally, namely, that he can’t make meaningful change in Washington without Ossoff and Warnock.
“Send me these two men and we will control the Senate, and we will change the lives of the people in Georgia,” Biden said at the time.
The goal of the Trump rally is a little trickier for Republicans. Political experts have expressed concern that the president’s public spats with the state’s GOP leadership could tamp down voter turnout. They also believe Republicans are on shaky ground and warn that if Trump goes rogue, all bets are off.
“Given that President Trump has just requested that Gov. Kemp resign, yes, I think your assessment that the Georgia Republicans are rolling the dice with Trump’s visit is correct,” Scott Ainsworth, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, told the Washington Examiner in an email. “The president has not clarified the messaging for the Republican candidates.”
Stephen Scott, a Marietta resident and lifelong Republican, told the Washington Examiner he has soured on Trump. Still, he says he will be at the Dalton rally.
“We’ve been getting a lot of mixed messages, and this would be a good opportunity to come together, but I don’t think it’s possible with Trump,” Scott said. “He’s got a score to settle, and he doesn’t care who he has to ruin to do it.”
In fact, the headwinds that have pushed against Perdue and Loeffler in the run-up to the runoff have, in large part, come from Trump.
The outgoing president’s two-month-long campaign to sow the seeds of doubt in Georgia’s election system and overturn the results have thrown the Republican campaigns into chaos.
Even though Trump has encouraged his base to vote red in the Jan. 5 race, he has spent way more time attacking the integrity of the state’s voting system. He has also lambasted Georgia’s GOP leaders and turned Gov. Brian Kemp, a man Trump himself endorsed, into a verbal punching bag.
On Wednesday, he hammered Kemp for refusing to claim that he beat Biden in Georgia, despite two recounts, one by hand and another electronically, showing Biden carried the state by more than 12,000 votes.
“@BrianKempGA should resign from office,” Trump tweeted. “He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG! Also won the other Swing States.”
Trump has called Kemp “hapless,” a “fool,” and a “clown” on multiple occasions.
In mid-December, Trump retweeted a post by Lin Wood, an attorney known for peddling conspiracy theories. In it, Wood tweeted that Kemp and Raffensperger will be locked up for going against Trump.
“President Trump @realDonaldTrump is a genuinely good man. He does not really like to fire people. I bet he dislikes putting people in jail, especially ‘Republicans.’ He gave @BrianKempGA & GaSecofState every chance to get it right. They refused. They will soon be going to jail.”
President Trump @realDonaldTrump is a genuinely good man. He does not really like to fire people. I bet he dislikes putting people in jail, especially “Republicans.”
He gave @BrianKempGA & @GaSecofState every chance to get it right. They refused. They will soon be going to jail. pic.twitter.com/7PMBLc8L2N
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) December 15, 2020
Though his threat of impending imprisonment for following the law attracted criticism, it didn’t stop Trump from retweeting it to his 88.5 million followers.
“It’s so stupid,” Melissa Warner, a Republican who lives in Augusta, told the Washington Examiner. “He is sabotaging our chances and making sure Democrats win.”
During Trump’s Dec. 5 visit to the state, he used the majority of his 100-minute speech airing his own grievances over losing the election and used the rally to spread allegations of misconduct and election rigging rather than boosting his party. He barely mentioned Perdue or Loeffler.
“Let them steal Georgia again, you’ll never be able to look at yourself in the mirror,” he told hundreds of his mostly maskless supporters. He added that Kemp could assure him victory “if he knew what the hell he was doing.” Trump’s comments, speculations, and misreading of election laws have publicly forced Perdue and Loeffler to take sides.
Both have chosen Trump over GOP leaders in their own state. In doing so, they have vilified the governor, lieutenant governor, and called for the secretary of state’s resignation.
Democrats have delighted in the spectacle, watching Trump interject himself into an election that has national consequences for the Republican Party.
“I think Trump wants Loeffler and Perdue to lose so he can blame Kemp,” Democratic strategist James Carville told Politico. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve seen. If he keeps it up, it’s good for us.”
Democrats have joked they could not buy the media attention that Trump has drummed up for them. In fact, part of their media strategy going into Tuesday’s election has been to plaster Trump’s own words on billboards across Georgia, including one where Trump slammed Kemp and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
“Why vote for Republicans if what you get is Ducey and Kemp?” the billboard read.
