President Trump, in his ongoing quest to overturn the November election, has demanded total loyalty of Republicans around the country, but especially in Georgia — where the last thing Republicans needed was an intraparty fight heading into its U.S. Senate runoffs on Tuesday.
Georgia’s top Republican officials have resisted Trump’s demands to overturn what has been upheld as a secure election.
In an explosive phone call leaked over the weekend, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger stood firm against the president’s lobbying for him to “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state” and “recalculate” the vote tally in his favor.
Trump has taken to regularly berating officials — including Raffensperger — on Twitter, encouraging a 2022 primary challenge to former close ally Gov. Brian Kemp, and last week in calling for Kemp to resign.
Trump has created a situation that has left many Georgia Republican operatives incredulous, especially because the high-profile Republican drama comes as voters in Georgia are set to determine the balance of power in the Senate through two Tuesday runoffs. Polls show the races as close, and it’s evident that neither party can afford to leave any votes on the table.
