Fraud claims could hurt GOP in Georgia races
Officials inGeorgia pushed back Sunday against PresidentDonaldTrumpashehas continued repeating baseless allegations questioning the integrity of the election and called for a special session of the state Legislature, with the aim of overturning his loss.
Republican state officials defended election results, noting that the outcome has withstoodmultiple recounts, and argued that the president was sowing division in the party and suspicion over the electoral process.
“Themountains of misinformation are not helping the process; they are only hurting it,” the state’s lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan, a Republican, said Sunday on the CNN program “State of theUnion.” “I votedfor President Trump. I campaigned for him. And, unfortunately, he did not win the state of Georgia.”
The dispute over the election has inflamed a rift among Republicans as the president has castigated state officials in his own party. GOPofficials have expressed concern that the discord could have damaging consequences, as the state’s incumbent Republican senators have been forced into runoff races against Democrats that will determinewhether the party maintains its control of the Senate.
OnSunday, Sen. KellyLoeffler is scheduled to debate her Democratic challenger, the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock. Another debate is scheduled Sunday for Sen. David Perdue to face off with his challenger, Jon Ossoff, but Perdue has declined to participate.
Trump traveled to Georgia for a rally Saturday to mobilize his supporters to back Perdue and Loeffler in the January runoff. But the president mostly used the stage to air his grievances over the election and lash out at Gov. Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger, the Republican Georgia secretary of state.