GOP doesn’t want Trump in Georgia before runoff — but he’ll go anyway if DeSantis does: report

Republicans were unable to keep Donald Trump from announcing his 2024 comeback attempt before the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia -- and they may also fail to keep him out of the Peach State before the vote.

"As Republicans pour arty resources into the Georgia Senate runoff, Donald Trump is getting irritated at the idea that virtually no one of importance in the GOP wants him to campaign in Georgia," Rolling Stone magazine reported Sunday evening. "In the lead-up to the contest between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Trump-endorsed challenger Herschel Walker, several GOP figures and Trump allies have already implored him not to hold a Georgia rally ahead of the runoff, according to two people familiar with the matter and another person briefed on the situation."

Republicans are reported "haunted" by the idea of Trump costing the GOP the race.

"Trump has, however, suggested to those close to him that he’ll react poorly if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaigns — a potential 2024 rival — in Georgia while the Republican Party holds its once undisputed leader at arm’s length, the first two sources say. People who’ve recently spoken to Trump fear that if DeSantis were to announce a Georgia event, it would guarantee that Trump would also head to the state," Rolling Stone reported. "Trump has also vehemently argued to aides and confidants that his presence in the runoff would be a net positive for Walker, and he has accused pundits and Republicans who say he shouldn’t go to Georgia are unintelligent Trump haters."

In Georgia's 2020 Senate runoff elections, GOP turnout was depressed as Trump was spreading his "big lie" in the run-up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol the next day. On Sunday, Trump was again spreading his lies about a rigged election on his Truth Social website.

Democrats won both seats, allowing them control of the U.S. Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris' ability to cast tie-breaking votes.

Read the full report.