'Saying the quiet part out loud': David Perdue admits he is a coup-supporting insurrectionist

Conservative Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp now has a challenger in Georgia’s 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary: former Sen. David Perdue, who is attacking Kemp for certifying 2020’s presidential election results in the Peach State. Washington Post opinion writer Jennifer Rubin, a Never Trump conservative, weighs in on Perdue’s campaign in her December 9 column — stressing that the former U.S. senator has, in essence, admitted to being an “insurrectionist” and a “coup” supporter. And sadly, Rubin laments, he isn’t alone in that regard when it comes to Trump-backed Republican candidates.

Former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Perdue, now regards Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) for acknowledging that now-President Joe Biden won Georgia fairly and did not steal the election.

Promoting the Big Lie recently, Perdue told Axios, “Not with the information that was available at the time and not with the information that has come out now. They had plenty of time to investigate this. And I wouldn’t have signed it until those things had been investigated, and that’s all we were asking for.”

According to Rubin, those are the words of an insurrectionist and a “coup” supporter — not someone who should be governor of Georgia.

“Perdue is saying the quiet part out loud,” Rubin warns. “Given the same circumstances in 2024 — a clean election with close results in key states — Republicans would seek to undo the will of the voters, call on the House of Representatives to ‘fix’ the election and thereby sink our democracy. I imagine Perdue’s team will spin, ‘clarify’ and backtrack his comment, but the Kinsley gaffe cannot be undone.”

Rubin continues, “This demand — that Republicans reverse the results of an election subject to multiple audits and tested in dozens of court cases — is precisely what the leader of the MAGA cult, President Donald Trump, demanded. January 6 was the result of his unsuccessful efforts to pressure elected officials into ignoring their oaths and installing him as the 2020 winner. Next time, with more David Perdues in office, Trump might not need a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.”

Rubin also warns that any Republican who isn’t pro-insurrection in 2022 or 2024 can expect to be attacked by the MAGA movement.

“Every Republican endorsed by Trump will be expected to do his or her part — whether it is a state legislator voting for an alternate slate of electors, or a governor refusing to certify the voters’ pick, or a member of Congress challenging electoral votes,” Rubin predicts. “Even Republicans not selected by Trump will be under incredible pressure to go along with such a coup attempt — just as so many felt compelled to object to the electoral votes in 2020 and to refuse to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection.”

The 59-year-old Rubin, who has voted Republican in many presidential elections but supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, also attacks Democrats in her December 9 column — although for different reasons. As Rubin sees it, Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot by not getting a voting rights bill passed and onto Biden’s desk for signature while they still control the White House and both branches of Congress.

“Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) are aiding this effort by refusing to install breakers that would short-circuit a coup in 2022 or 2024,” Rubin warns. “They refuse to touch the filibuster, so there will be no law to head off the next John Eastman memo or to prevent the replacement of impartial election officials…. This pre-planned coup is what President Biden enables when he refuses to raise the filibuster in speeches and does not signal that this is a red line for his party…. Politicians — and voters — must acknowledge that MAGA forces are explaining precisely what they will do in 2024.”

Rubin continues, “If Americans shrug or, worse, embolden Trump and his ilk, we will see the end of credible, peaceful elections. There can be no more important issue, and unless Democratic activists, candidates and officeholders put this front and center and put guardrails in place, our democracy will veer into chaos.”

IN OTHER NEWS: 'No basis': Appeals court unanimously rejects Trump effort to keep Jan. 6 documents secret

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