ATLANTA — Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler likes to say she’s in lockstep with President Trump, but she’s sidestepping questions about his call with GOP state officials in which he urged them to find enough votes to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the once-conservative stronghold.
“My sole focus is on tomorrow, Jan. 5. This election, everything’s at stake for this country. I am focused on that exclusively because this affects every single Georgian, and that’s been my focus the entire time I’ve been in the Senate,” Loeffler told reporters on Monday during a limited press availability.
When asked whether Trump’s surreptitiously recorded conversation with Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was appropriate, the senator, who was appointed last January, didn’t directly answer the question.
“Look, my sole focus is on getting Georgians out to vote on Jan. 5 because we are the firewall to stopping socialism. We have to hold the line in Georgia,” she said.
Loeffler is spending election eve crisscrossing Georgia with former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, also the state’s former governor. She’ll meet Trump in Dalton on Monday evening.
But while Loeffler would prefer to talk with voters about the policy differences between herself and her special election Democratic opponent, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, audio of Trump’s call has dominated local and national news coverage.
On the tape, Trump accused Raffensperger of being aware of integrity issues with his Nov. 3 contest against Biden but that he was not acting on them.
“That’s a criminal offense, and you can’t let that happen. That’s a big risk,” the president said.
Loeffler’s runoff race against Warnock for the remaining two years of retired Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term is happening at the same time GOP Sen. David Perdue is trying to stave off Democratic challenger filmmaker Jon Ossoff. The contests are essentially tied, and Tuesday could cement Senate Republicans’ majority, or it could leave the chamber with a 50-50 seat tie that can be broken by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Biden will be in Georgia later on Monday to rally Democrats behind his candidates. But on Monday, Loeffler shrugged off the two-term vice president’s visit, tying her rivals to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“Biden will be here campaigning for the two of the most radically liberal candidates that have ever run for Senate in this country,” she said. “These candidates would be a rubber stamp for Chuck Schumer to change America.”
