President Trump and the Republican National Committee said Sunday that the president will hold a meeting on January 4 in Dalton, Georgia, the night before the crucial second election of the Senate. Republicans must keep at least one of those Senate seats to retain the Senate majority, while Democrats must win both to make a 50-50 tie, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the breakthrough vote.
On behalf of two GREAT senators, @sendavidperdue & @KLoeffler, I’m going to Georgia on Monday evening January 4th for a big and beautiful RALLY. So important to our country that they are winning! ” Mr. Trump tweeted on Sunday evening.
Mr. Trump announced that shortly before the White House announced he had signed a $ 900 billion COVID-19 emergency economic relief bill bundled with a $ 1.4 trillion government spending bill. His refusal to sign the bill for nearly a week had put both Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, in a difficult position leading up to the second round, as they both voted for it. Both Perdue and Loeffler immediately issued statements thanking Mr. Trump for the bill.
Neither Perdue nor Loeffler won 50% of the vote in November, forcing elections. Perdue led Democratic opponent Jon Ossoff, and while Raphael Warnock got the most votes in his race, Loeffler and Republican Congressman Doug Collins got more votes together than he did.
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The race has attracted a significant amount, and last week Ossoff became the highest-funded senatorial candidate of all time, raising $ 107 million between October 15 and December 15 alone.
At Mr Trump’s previous meeting in Georgia, he falsely insisted that “we have won the election” and the state in particular. Trump has refused to give in to the general election and has elected Republican election officials in Georgia, who turned blue for President-elect Joe Biden when he made unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud and faked elections.
With the Electoral College affirming Mr. Biden’s victory on December 14 and a slew of lawsuits challenging the election results in court, Mr. Trump has established his hope of reversing the election results on both houses of Congress, by submitting to vote the results in several major states when they meet to count the votes on Jan. 6. But Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, and Senate leader Mitch McConnell last week asked GOP senators not to object to the election results when the joint session convenes.
Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and majority whip, said the attempt to throw out the state elections “just isn’t going anywhere.”
“In the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog,” Thune told reporters Dec. 21.
Dalton, where the January 4 rally will be held, is located in one of Georgia’s most conservative House districts. In January, the district is represented by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has promoted QAnon conspiracy theories and is a staunch ally of Mr Trump.
The Republican National Committee said all attendees at the Dalton rally will have to undergo temperature checks, be given masks to “wear” and have access to hand sanitizer. The meeting will be held in an airport hangar, a well-known venue for Mr Trump’s pre-election rallies.