Biden, Trump rally voters in Georgia
Runoff poll to decide who controls Senate
Joe Biden and Donald Trump held duelling rallies on Monday ahead of Georgia’s critical Senate runoff election, where the presidentelect promised a Democratic Congress would pass more pandemic relief while the president revisited his claims that vote fraud robbed him of re-election.
At a drive-in rally in Atlanta, Mr Biden said the entire country is looking to Georgia to help him implement his agenda by electing Democrats to both of the state’s Senate seats.
“The power, the power is literally in your hands,” he said. “Unlike any time in my career, one state — one state — can chart the course not just for the next four years but for the next generation.”
Mr Trump agreed, in a way, charging that if Democrats win the two seats today, “the damage they do will be permanent and will be irreversible. Can’t let it happen. These Senate seats are truly the last line of defence.”
He quickly admonished news organisations not to interpret the remark as a concession that he had lost on Nov 3. “No, no, I don’t concede,” he said.
The election will decide which party controls the Senate in the first two years of Mr Biden’s presidency and with it, his agenda. If Republicans manage to keep at least one of Georgia’s two Senate seats, the party would have a narrow majority in the chamber.
That would empower Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to block Mr Biden’s initiatives, as well as nominees to his administration and the judiciary.
If Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock can take both seats from Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the Senate will be split 50-50, giving incoming Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote.
Mr Biden promised that a
Democrat-led Senate would pass $2,000 (about 60,000 baht) stimulus payments “to help people in real trouble”.
“Think about what it will mean to your lives,” he said. Mr McConnell has blocked the Senate from increasing direct payments in the last round of pandemic relief from $600, despite Mr Trump advocating the larger checks.
Mr Trump has linked the Senate races to his own fate in the state. In an
extraordinary, hour-long phone call on Saturday, Mr Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find a way to shift the state’s presidential results in his favour.
At his rally on Monday night, attended by thousands of supporters who mostly did not wear masks, Mr Trump repeated allegations that the November election was fraudulent, citing no sources.
His claims have been thrown out of
dozens of courts across the country, and some Georgia Republicans have expressed concern that Mr Trump’s insistence the state’s election machinery isn’t trustworthy may dissuade the party’s voters from turning out.
“When you win in a landslide and they steal it, and it’s rigged, it’s not acceptable,” Mr Trump complained.
“If these two don’t win and if we don’t take the presidency,” he said, referring to Ms Loeffler and Mr Perdue,
“you have a country that would be run by Schumer, Pelosi and Biden.” He was referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Mr Trump again assailed Mr Raffensperger and Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, who each certified the state’s election in Mr Biden’s favour, and said he would return to Georgia in 2022 to campaign against their re-elections. Both are Republicans.