Trump To Visit GA On Dec. 5 To Rally Support For Perdue, Loeffler

GEORGIA — President Donald Trump said Thursday he will visit Georgia on Dec. 5 to rally support for the state’s Republican senatorial candidates ahead of the January runoff election.

Trump announced the visit during a question-and-answer session with reporters, his first since the general election. On Friday, Trump confirmed the day of the week with a tweet. The White House later clarified that it would be on Dec. 5 at a location yet to be announced.

Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler both face Democratic challengers in the Jan. 5 runoff election that will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.

Trump continued to push unsubstantiated claims of voting fraud during his Thursday session with reporters. However, he did say he would leave the White House if the Electoral College voted for President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump’s visit complicates an already contentious dynamic among Georgia Republicans. After Perdue and Loeffler were forced into runoffs, both called for the resignation of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is also a Republican.

Raffensperger responded by digging in his heels and defending the election results, which put him in Trump’s crosshairs. After a USA Today opinion piece Wednesday in which Raffensperger complained that Trump had thrown him “under the bus,” Trump called Raffensperger an “enemy of the people.”

According to Politico, Republican infighting — and the impression that the vote is rigged — may actually discourage many of the voters they need to win from voting at all in the runoff.

“That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face,” Debbie Dooley, an Atlanta Tea Party leader and Trump supporter, said to Politico. “If you boycott the runoff or you write in names, you are giving Democrats control of the Senate, and they will have total control of the government.”

No, the 2020 Election was a total scam, we won by a lot (and will hopefully turn over the fraudulent result), but we must get out and help David and Kelly, two GREAT people. Otherwise we are playing right into the hands of some very sick people. I will be in Georgia on Saturday! https://t.co/1ziqFq9S6O
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2020