'A New Day For Georgia': Biden Pushes For GA Senate Democrats

ATLANTA, GA — During a Monday drive-in rally, President-elect Joe Biden urged voters to choose Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock in the Jan. 5 Georgia Senate runoff elections. Ossoff and Warnock face Republican incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

"Folks, this is it. ... This is a new year, and tomorrow can be a new day for Atlanta, for Georgia and for America," Biden said during an afternoon rally in Atlanta.

The two races have garnered national attention, as the results will determine which political party — Republicans or Democrats — will gain control over the U.S. Senate. Democrats already have the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"This is not an exaggeration: Georgia, the whole nation is looking at you. The power is literally in your hands," Biden said. "Unlike any time in my career, one state can chart the course not just the next four years, but the next generation. You can make an immediate difference in your own life and the lives of people across this country."

Biden mentioned the ongoing stimulus check debate between President Donald Trump, the U.S. Senate and Congress, saying Ossoff and Warnock would "put an end to the block in Washington" and help get $2,000 stimulus checks approved rather than the $600 payments in the works.

"There's no one in America with more power to make that happen than you, the citizens of Atlanta, the citizens of Georgia," Biden said. "If you send Jon [Ossoff] and the Reverend [Raphael Warnock] to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door, restoring hope and decency and honor for so many people who are struggling right now."

Biden criticized Perdue and Loeffler, saying the two Republican senators think they work for Trump rather than the people of Georgia — but he said he believes Ossoff and Warnock will put the people first.

"You've got two senators who think it's more important to reward wealth than hard work. You've got two senators now who think they don't work for you — they work for Trump," Biden said. "[Ossoff and Warnock] won't put a president or a party first, and they sure won't put themselves first. They know public service is about you — it isn't about them. It's not about enriching themselves, it's about making people's lives better."

Biden spoke at a drive-in rally outside Center Parc Stadium, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His visit comes the same day as President Donald Trump’s rally in Dalton at 7:30 p.m. to garner support for Republican incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

NBC livestreamed the rally and subsequent speeches on its YouTube channel.

Biden also tweeted a livestream link:

With just one day to go until the Georgia Senate runoffs, I’m in Atlanta to get out the vote. Tune in. https://t.co/I4MBUj0g3o
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/s... 4, 2021

Neither Perdue nor Loeffler earned the majority of votes in the November 2020 election. Perdue led Ossoff by 88,098 votes, according to polling results. Of that, 47.95 percent of voters cast their ballots for Ossoff, compared to Perdue's 49.73 percent. Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel took 2.32 percent, or 115,039 votes.

Loeffler gathered 25.91 percent of votes in the November 2020 election, while Warnock took 32.9 percent of the votes. A total of 28 other candidates ran in this race in November to make up the remaining 58.81 percent of votes.

The president’s appearance in Georgia comes on the heels of national criticism after audio of an hour-long phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was leaked. In the audio, Trump pressured Raffensperger to “find” enough votes in the state to overturn his November election defeat against Biden.

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At one point, Trump said, "So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state," the Washington Post reported. Also on the call, according to the Post, were White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, conservative lawyer Cleta Mitchell, and the Georgia secretary of state office's general counsel.

Coverage of Trump’s rally in Dalton can be viewed here.