With Donald Trump believing he's won and will have a second term (in whatever fantasy universe he's residing in, anyway) you'd figure he'd be in Georgia right now campaigning for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the state's January 5 runoff Senate elections so that he would continue to have a GOP Senate covering for him. You would of course be completely wrong, because Trump is instead infuriated at Georgia Republicans for not doing enough to help along his little coup.
Georgia is at the center of a battle for Senate control. Yet President Donald Trump, America’s omnipresent political commentator, has remained mum.
Two runoff Senate races in Georgia, set for Jan. 5, will determine which party controls Congress’s upper chamber. Marquee political names like Vice President Mike Pence and former President Barack Obama are willing to make Georgia trips to rally supporters. Big donors from both parties are funneling money into the races. The state is even embarking on a hand recount of its presidential ballots as the Trump campaign challenges Georgia’s election results in court.
But back in Washington, Trump has been all but silent on the subject. Outside of a few scattered tweets and retweets about specious claims of voter fraud in Georgia, Trump has made no public remarks about the state or the Senate runoffs there. And there are no plans for him to visit Georgia until at least after the state’s recount is complete. In fact, apart from a silent appearance at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, Trump hasn’t appeared in public since two days after the election, and it’s unclear when he’ll resurface.
His avoidance of the Georgia runoffs has left some Republicans around Trump frustrated that the GOP’s preeminent figure is leaving his party in the lurch at a critical moment. Trump’s rallies and appearances, they argue, are a guaranteed way to drive interest in the state’s two GOP Senate candidates: Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. And, they noted, the Trump campaign’s focus on legally challenging the presidential election has spread out GOP resources and money that some wish would be funneled into Georgia.
“Several people have told him it’s important Loeffler and Perdue win because they will help keep his legacy intact. We’ve made the point to him that Republicans slowly dismantled parts of Obama’s legacy when we had control of the Senate in 2016 and a Democratic Senate would do the same to Trump,” said a Republican close to Trump.
“I’ve told the campaign his only priority should be holding onto the Senate,” the person added. “Frankly, he is losing credibility the more and more we have this fraudulent ballot fight.”
Indeed, the White House is all but giving the game away: unless the Georgia GOP can deliver the state to him and help him stay in the White House somehow, Trump won't lift a finger to help Perdue or Loeffler.
But Jason Miller, a Trump campaign senior adviser, said for now, there are no plans for the president to get involved in the Senate races.
“I would not expect anything prior to his race being decided, but he’ll be supportive to ensure Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue win those races,” Miller said. “If the reported irregularities and concerns with illegally harvested ballots aren’t dealt with ahead of Jan. 5, that could impact Republican chances as well.”
On Thursday morning, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed Trump had no plans to head to the state.
“He hasn't made any determinations on that thus far,” she said, adding that the country would “be hearing from him at the right moment.”
You'll be hearing from Trump at the "right moment" alright, when he openly blames Georgia Republicans for failing him, and tells his cultists to stay home because the state's Republicans are corrupt and fixing elections.
Which they are through massive voter suppression of Black and Native voters, but that's another story.
Won't this be fun?
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