Last updated on January 18th, 2021 at 02:48 am
Donald Trump will no longer be the President of the United States come mid-January. His presence, though, will hang over the party long before he’s gone, undermining almost any candidate who wants to run as a Republican.
This is clear in the special election going on in Georgia. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are in desperate races to save their senate seats as well as Republican control of the senate.
Donald Trump did make a small attempt to help the incumbents by holding a rally for them weeks back. The event, though, devolved into a typical Trump rally with the Georgia senators making briefs appearances.
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The president has not been back since then, but daughter Ivanka was dispatched for an event in Milton, Georgia on Monday. Again, however, the supporters seemed to be a lot more interested in Donald Trump than they were in Loeffler or Perdue.
As the @KLoeffler @Perduesenate rally wraps up, the crowds chants again, “Stop the steal.â€@wsbtv pic.twitter.com/hh6gKkYz3U
— Audrey Washington (@AudreyWSBTV) December 21, 2020
The New York Times Astead Herndon and Rick Rojas report:
“Mr. Perdue and Ms. Loeffler were both heckled by members of the audience, who called on them to more forcefully back Mr. Trump’s attempts to subvert the election. Some held signs calling for a special session of Congress to overturn the Electoral College vote, while others pushed the senators to vote against certifying the election results. In his remarks, Mr. Perdue nodded to the anger among those in the crowd, whose voices had drowned out Ms. Loeffler at one point.”
It is difficult to poll special elections, but the two races are likely to be very tight. Perdue and Loeffler would have a hard time overcoming the loss of even a small percentage of pro-Trump Republicans.
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.
