Georgia's Republican lieutenant governor rips Trump for 'mountains of misinformation' and says President's attacks on state officials 'disgust' him while putting the Senate in jeopardy
A top Republican official in Georgia on Sunday denounced President Donald Trump's attacks on the legitimacy of the vote – and warns it could hamper Republicans in their effort to maintain control of the Senate.
'I worry that this continues, you know, fanning of the flames around misinformation puts us in a negative position with regards to the Jan. 5 runoff,' Georgia's Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan told CNN's 'State of the Union.'
'The mountains of misinformation are not helping the process – they're only hurting it,' he said.
His comments came after Trump's relentless attacks on Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Trump called Kemp on Saturday, the Washington Post reported, urging him to have the state legislature meet to cast aside the election and send electors for Trump, in a state Joe Biden by 12,000 votes.
Asked about Trump's attacks on state officials, Duncan responded: 'Absolutely it disgusts me.'
Duncan said he was not on Trump's call to Kemp, but dismissed the idea out of hand.
'We're certainly not going to move the goalposts at this point in the election. We are going to continue to follow the letter of the law, which gives us a very clear-cut direction as to how to execute an election,' he told interviewer Jake Tapper.
Despite his criticism of 'misinformation' at the Trump rally, Duncan allowed that the 'first part' of the rally was 'very encouraging, to listen to the president champion the conservative strategies of Senator Loeffler and Perdue,' a reference to Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
Another Georgia election official, Gabriel Sterling – also a Republican – blasted Loeffler and Perdue's decision to call for the election of Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger amid Trump's unsupported charges of fraud.
'They just want to keep the Trump supporters whipped up because they think that's the best path to win the Senate races,' said Sterling, who appeared on NBC's 'Meet the Press' after his call to stop false election claims went viral.
He said he voted for Trump, and even planned to vote for Loeffler and Perdue as a Republican.
'At this point it’s a game of whack a mole, as we’ve been saying. The president's statements are false. They’re disinformation. They are stoking anger and fear among his supporters and, hell, I voted for him,' said Sterling.
'It’s undermining democracy, and we've got to get to a point where responsible people act responsibly,' said Sterling.
He said what motivated him to speak out were threats against Raffensberger and his family, and alluded to threats against himself – as well as threats he said he learned came in against a young worker for a voting technology company that is at the heart of a conspiracy theory pushed by Donald Trump's legal team.
'It wasn't happening to me. Obviously, I have a police car outside my house right now, I can see it out the right side of my peripheral vision. There has been police protection for the secretary. His wife received sexual and violent threats on her personal cell phone,' he said.
'But what, for lack of a better word, set me off on Tuesday, was about an hour before -- hour and a half before a previously scheduled news conference, I got a call from the project manager from Dominion Voting Systems for -- out of Colorado, who was telling me in a very audibly shaken voice, that one of their contractors had received some threats in Gwinnett County, and this is just a young tech' he said.
'He took a job a few weeks ago, he's one of their better ones, and one – I was going through the Twitter feed on it and I saw it basically had the young man's name, it was a very unique name so they tracked down his family and started harassing them. And it said “his name, you have committed treason. May God have mercy on your soul, with a slowly swinging noose,” and at that point, I just said “I'm done.”'
Candidates for one of two U.S. Senate seats still hanging in the balance will face off in a debate that is drawing strong interest beyond Georgia – hours after Trump tried to goose runoff election turnout at a rally where he called his own election 'rigged.'
That is because the seat - now held by incumbent Republican Loeffler and being challenged by Democrat Raphael Warnock - is one of two that will tip control of the Senate to either Republicans or Democrats. Loeffler and Warnock face off Sunday in a debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club.
Although Warnock has sought additional debates, none have been scheduled yet, meaning this could be the only head-to-head debate between the two candidates.
'The mountains of misinformation are not helping the process – they're only hurting it,' said Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) after President Trump repeated his claims at a Georgia rally that the election was 'rigged'
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) joins President Donald Trump at a rally in support of Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and herself on December 05, 2020 in Valdosta, Georgia. The crowd quieted during her remarks and cheered 'fight for Trump' after she and Perdue spoke
The president repeated claims of election fraud as he spoke to an estimated crowd of 10,000 mostly maskless supporters in Valdosta, Georgia Saturday in his first post-election rally for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
'If I lost - I'd be a very gracious loser. If I lost, I would say I lost and I'd go to Florida and take it easy and I'd go around and say I did a good job,' Trump said.
'But you can never accept when they steal and rig and rob. You can't accept that,' he added as the crowd erupted in 'stop the steal' chants.
He called Loeffler on stage to deliver remarks, where the crowd stayed mostly quiet as she saluted the president. Trump also continued to go after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, on a day when he called him to push him to call a special session of the state legislature to try to overturn the state's election result.
'We have to make sure that we keep America strong,' Loeffler told the crowd.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Raphael Warnock debates Loeffler on Sunday
'They cheated and they rigged our presidential election, but we will still win it,' Trump said at his Saturday night rally
In his own comments, Perdue spoke while the crowd spoke 'fight for Trump' over his own remarks. 'God bless, you, we love you Mr. President.' He promised to 'make sure you get a fair, square deal in the state of Georgia.'
Trump directed many of his comments at his own race, and repeated unfounded claims of voter fraud.
'They cheated and they rigged our presidential election, but we will still win it,' Trump said.
The other Senate seat still undecided is between Georgia Republican U.S. Sen David Perdue, who has declined to meet Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff in additional debates after the two jousted twice before the general election. Ossoff will get a solo platform Sunday to make his case.
The runoffs will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, prompting a huge wave of money and organizing effort trying to get Georgians to vote again on or before Jan. 5. The state's voters cast a narrow majority of ballots for Democrat Joe Biden in November, but Perdue outran President Donald Trump while Ossoff trailed Biden.
Republicans currently hold a 50-48 edge in the Senate, but if Democrats win both races, Vice President Kamala Harris would cast the tiebreaking vote in the incoming Joe Biden administration, giving Democrats control. Republicans will retain their current majority even if they win only one of the two races.
In both races, a runoff is required under Georgia state law because no candidate reached 50% in November. Perdue fell just short of defeating Ossoff because a Libertarian candidate won a small slice of the vote, while Warnock led Loeffler in a 20-way field in which no candidate came close to 50%.
Raphael Warnock, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign rally on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, in Marietta, Ga. Warnock and U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler are in a runoff election for the Senate seat. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
The Republicans are attacking their Democratic opponents as socialists and radicals, saying giving control to the party would lead to unacceptable consequences. Democrats are attacking the stock trading activity of Perdue and Loeffler, saying it proves the two are rich people who care more for their own pocketbooks than for people suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Loeffler and Perdue rallied Saturday in Valdosta with Trump, who came to the state to support the candidates despite continuing questions over whether Trump's unproven attacks on Georgia's presidential balloting will cause some of his Republican supporters to shy away from voting in the runoffs.
Loeffler and Perdue rallied Friday in Savannah with Vice President Mike Pence.
Warnock and Ossoff held a virtual rally Friday with former President Barack Obama.
Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler speaks to the media during a campaign rally to gain North Georgia voters' support ahead of the January 5th runoff election for Senator at the Springhill Suites on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020 in Ringgold, Ga. (Troy Stolt/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
Georgia Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Jon Ossoff speaks during a rally, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, in Marietta, Ga. Ossoff and Republican Sen. David Perdue are in a runoff election for the Senate seat. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., takes the stage before Vice President Mike Pence during a Defend the Majority Rally, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020 in Canton, Ga. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)
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