‘Definitely A Civil War’: Trump’s Demands Splinter GOP Ahead Of Georgia Vote

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President Trump arrives at a rally in support of Republican incumbent Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue Monday evening in Dalton, Ga.





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«No one, whether you’re mad at me, whether you like me, should get distracted by anything other than getting out to vote, Kemp responded at a press conference hours after Trump’s tweet calling for Kemp’s resignation. «That is where my focus is. I don’t want to wake up on January the 6th and wonder what else I should have done.

One of Raffensperger’s top deputies, Gabriel Sterling, on Monday reiterated the same message, as he debunked a litany of conspiracy theories the president has perpetuated. «Given the nature of the president’s statements … We are specifically asking and telling you to turn out and vote tomorrow, Sterling said. «Do not self-suppress your own vote.

Yet Trump’s attacks on Kemp, Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan and Raffensperger have, at best, sown confusion and, at worst, caused some Republican voters in Georgia to turn against their officials. The president has also put the two incumbent Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, in the unenviable position of being in the middle.

‘Whipsawed by their own party’

«Senator Perdue and Senator Loeffler have been whipsawed by their own party and by their own president, Garrett said.

The two senators’ relationships with Kemp in particular have been close. Perdue’s lobbying secured Kemp a crucial Republican primary endorsement from Trump in 2018. Loeffler wouldn’t be a senator without Kemp, who appointed her to the position last year, against the president’s wishes.

And yet, Loeffler and Perdue have stayed in lockstep with Trump during their runoff campaigns, refraining from congratulating President-elect Joe Biden, and breaking with their caucus to support what had been a Democratic priority of $2,000 in coronavirus relief checks because Trump took up the cause.

They supported an unsuccessful lawsuit led by the state of Texas in the Supreme Court against the state of Georgia to overturn the election results, have not spoken out in Kemp’s defense and quickly called for Raffensperger’s resignation in November.

Loeffler said Monday she would object to Congress’ Wednesday Electoral College vote tally.

Loeffler, who has repeatedly labeled herself «100% with President Trump has avoided directly answering from the press about the tape of Raffensperger and the president’s conversation, as well as the call for Kemp’s resignation.

Instead of trying to appeal to independent or more moderate Republicans as well as the Republican base, Garrett said, Loeffler and Perdue have been «forced to focus on what would normally be easier voters to count on among their base. «The problem was, you had this huge megaphone out of Washington telling them ‘Don’t trust the system,' Garrett said.

«The problem is the messages are almost so different, he said. «The more you talk about Trump, the less you can talk to independents or soft Republicans in the suburbs.

And the November numbers indicate there are some voters in the middle who voted a split ticket, for Biden and Senate Republicans.

Perdue slightly outperformed Trump in Georgia in November, while his Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, slightly underperformed Joe Biden. Trump lost to Biden by nearly 12,000 votes, but Perdue earned nearly 90,000 more votes than Ossoff.

The question, Garrett said, is whether Trump will be a «constructive force in Republican primaries by backing candidates like Brian Kemp, or back pro-Trump challengers and undermine Republicans’ ability to win statewide in competitive states like Georgia.

«The big question amongst us, as operatives in this world is, are we going to have to lose races in 2022 and 2024, that we should have won, because of [Trump’s] outsize influence in Republican primaries? he said.

«There are very few things that I can say I would guarantee, but I can guarantee that if there’s a well-funded Trump challenge to Brian Kemp as governor, then [former Democratic gubernatorial candidate and voting activist] Stacey Abrams is the most likely the next governor of the state of Georgia, he said. «And we as Republicans better come to grips with that reality.