Trump sowed distrust at Georgia rally -- and it might cost Republicans control of the U.S. Senate: NYT
President Donald Trump's first campaign rally since losing the 2020 presidential election may have backfired on Republicans.
"One month before a pair of Georgia runoffs that will determine the Senate majority, President Trump used a rally for the two Republican senators on Saturday to complain about his own loss last month, insisting he would still prevail and, with notably less ardor, encouraging voters here to elect the Republicans," Jonathan Martin and Astead Herndon reported Saturday for The New York Times.
“You know we won Georgia, just so you understand,” Trump falsely claimed. “They cheated and rigged our presidential election, but we’ll still win."
Trump's delusional conspiracy theories about the election may backfire on Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and interim Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), who are in January runoff elections that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.
"Yet his lament about what he repeatedly described as the “rigged” election illustrated the quandary for Republicans. With Mr. Trump sowing distrust in Georgia’s voting system, railing against the vote-counting machines the state used and falsely asserting that mail-in ballots were rife with fraud, he’s giving Republicans in Georgia reason to question both voting by mail and in-person voting," The Times reported.
"If even a modest number of Republicans in the state sit out the Senate runoffs, especially in rural areas where Mr. Trump’s support is strongest, it could be enough to alter the electoral math in this evenly divided state and tip the two races to the Democrats," the newspaper reported.
Trump let the two GOP candidates speak for less than two minutes -- combined.
Watch Trump kneecap Georgia Republicans with his conspiracy theories: