Republicans warn Trump his leaked Georgia phone call could cost GOP the Senate runoffs despite Senator David Perdue defiantly claiming it WON'T
President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden both head to Georgia Monday with control of the U.S. Senate in the hands of the state's voters hours after the leak of a bombshell tape of Trump trying to pressure a top state official to 'find' thousands of votes for him.
Trump's election eve visit comes follows the release of a leaked hour-long phone call where the president demanded Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 'find 11,780 votes' – one more than his deficit to Biden in the state-certified count.
Biden also will travel to Georgia for a last-minute rally ahead of the Tuesday runoff elections, which pit a pair of incumbent Republican senators against two Democratic challengers.
'I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state,' Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a leaked call. He heads to Georgia Monday
Republicans have warned that Trump's efforts to overturn the results of his own election could have a negative impact on the party's chances – and the president himself raised the issue in his call with Raffensperger, where he demanded state election officials meet Monday and 'work out on these numbers.'
'But I'll tell you it's going to have a big impact on Tuesday if you guys don't get this thing straightened out fast,' he told Raffensperger, who repeatedly resisted his demands on the call.
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan warned Monday that Trump's flailing actions are a political anchor for his party.
'I can't think of a scenario where it helps,' Duncan told CNN. 'You know, if we look back to the last ten weeks, any Republican using this misinformation or election fraud is only an excuse, it's not a solution for us winning on Tuesday.'
If Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue successfully defend their seats, their party would maintain a 52-seat majority in the 100-seat Senate, giving them the power to block much of Biden's agenda when he takes office on Jan. 20.
Perdue blasted the leak of the call – and downplayed the president's comments some legal experts are already saying could constitute criminal interference in the vote count, dismissing the idea it could hurt his own race.
'I don't think it’s really going to affect our election. I’m still shocked that a member of the Republican Party would tape a sitting president and then leak that. It’s disgusting in my view,' he told Fox News. 'But what the president said is exactly what he's been saying the last few months.'
He said the president just 'wants some answers.'
A sweep by Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff would hand control to Biden's party, as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would hold the tiebreaking vote in the 50-50 chamber. That would make it easier for Biden to enact further coronavirus relief and tackle climate change, as Democrats also control the House of Representatives.
President- elect Joe Biden heads to Atlanta Monday
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger repeatedly resisted Trump's pressure tactics on the call
None of the candidates won a majority in their November races, which spurred the runoff elections.
Biden narrowly won Georgia in November, breaking years of Republican dominance in the state. Trump has refused to acknowledge his defeat and his campaign has unsuccessfully sought to overturn the results in Georgia and several other battleground states.
Trump pressured Georgia's top election official on Saturday to 'find' enough votes to overturn his defeat.
Biden will campaign for Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff
Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are each in runoff elections
'There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you've recalculated,' Trump said, according to an audio recording of the call released by the Washington Post. Raffensperger refused his request.
Democrats and election experts say Trump's efforts almost certainly broke the law.
It is not clear whether Trump's actions and his repeated claims of election fraud will affect the outcome of the Senate races. Strategists from both parties say the outcome could likely hinge on how many Republican voters participate on Tuesday, given strong Democratic early-voting turnout.
'If we get our vote out on Election Day then I think Perdue and Loeffler both have a very strong chance of winning,' Cobb County Republican Party Chairman Jason Shepherd told Reuters.
Trump warned Raffensperger on Saturday that Republican voters might be disheartened if Biden's victory is allowed to stand.
'Because of what you've done to the president a lot of people aren't going to vote, and a lot of people are going to vote negative,' he said on the call. He has previously called for both Raffensperger and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, both Republicans, to resign for not backing his unsupported allegations of election fraud.
The campaigns have obliterated spending records and spurred unprecedented turnout. More than 3 million Georgians have already cast their votes and political groups have flooded the southern state with a tsunami of advertising.
Trump is due to visit Dalton, a city in the state's heavily Republican northwest.
Biden will rally along with Ossoff and Warnock in Atlanta.
Ossoff runs a documentary film company and narrowly lost a race for a Georgia House seat in 2017. Warnock is senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the pulpit once held by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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