Trump launches new claims of ‘fraud’ as Republican fears grow that they will lose Georgia

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Democrat Raphael Warnock looked poised to knock Sen. Kelly Loeffler out of the Senate, while Jon Ossoff closed in on Republican Sen. David Perdue as counting of the Georgia Senate run-off races went into Wednesday. 

Late reporting from DeKalb County put the Democrats in a more formidable position, with Ossoff less than 2,000 votes behind Perdue. Warnock had a lead of about 35,000. 

Around 10:30 p.m., President Donald Trump had cried voter fraud as the two GOP senators looked in danger of losing. 

‘Looks like they are setting up a big “voter dump” against the Republican candidates,’ Trump wrote. ‘Waiting to see how many votes they need?’ the president tweeted. 

‘Just happened to have found another 4000 ballots from Fulton County. Here we go!’ Trump tweeted a little later. 

The polls in Georgia had closed at 7 p.m. and early returns showed Warnock and Ossoff ahead. But then, Loeffler pulled ahead of Warnock and Perdue took the lead over Ossoff. But as the night wore on, the biggest outstanding vote came from the Democrat-friendly Dekalb County. 

The television networks talked about needing to see those numbers before the races were called. The Drudge Report and other secondary outlets called the race for Warnock. The New York Times said it was ‘very likely’ Warnock and ‘pretty likely’ for Ossoff. By midnight, the Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman predicted both Democrats would win. 

Former Georgia House of Representatives minority leader and failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams tweeted her congratulations to Warnock before his win was called by the networks.

‘Congratulations to our next U.S. Senator, @ReverendWarnock. Last January, I endorsed my dear friend in his quest to serve. Soon, he will walk those august halls & cast votes as a leader with courage, justice and integrity. God bless you and keep you in your service to us all,’ she wrote. 

If both Democrats are successful, President-elect Joe Biden will have control of both houses of Congress when he gets sworn-in on January 20. 

If Warnock wins he would be the state’s first black senator, while the 33-year-old Ossoff would be Georgia’s first Jewish senator. 

Earlier Tuesday, Trump was already claiming voter fraud, floating a theory that Dominion voting machines were malfunctioning.  

And as midnight neared, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted out a conspiracy theory that Democrats were up to something in Chatham County, where the stronghold of Savannah is. 

‘Why are they stopping the vote count in Democrat Chatham county, Georgia?’ McEnany wrote. ‘This sounds familiar!’ 

Earlier Tuesday Trump posted to his Twitter, ‘Reports are coming out of the 12th Congressional District of Georgia that Dominion Machines are not working in certain Republican Strongholds for over an hour.’

‘Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them. Thank you Congressman @RickAllen!’ he continued, directing his gratitude to Georgia’s 12th district Rep. Rick Allen.

As returns were coming in Tuesday night, Trump sent out a fundraising text to supporters trying to raise money off the allegations. 

‘Pres Trump: Is it true that voting machines “stopped working” earlier in Georgia today? Are Dems trying to STEAL this Election? FIGHT BACK! Act,’ the text said, linking to page asking for donations.  

The claim from Trump of voter fraud appears to have come from Perdue, who is running for reelection in the runoff, and John Fredericks, who appeared on former Trump White House strategist Steven Bannon’s podcast Tuesday. 

‘We’ve got another problem with Dominion machines,’ Fredericks told Bannon on his podcast War Room. ‘I know this is going to shock your viewers today. But Dominion machines in several – get this, not one or two – I heard, three of the largest Republican precincts at 10:00 a.m. are down.’ 

‘People have been told that they cannot scan their ballots… because the machines don’t work,’ he continued. ‘In the meantime, they have to make their ballot out and put it in an envelope and the pole workers are saying ‘When it’s fixed we’ll scan it for you.’

‘So there’s all kinds of red flags right there,’ Fredericks said. ‘Of course, these are happening in Republican areas. You can extrapolate that, it could be happenstance.’

Also on Tuesday, Perdue told the Todd Starnes Show there were voting ‘anomalies’ involving Dominion machines in three different counties in Georgia.

The president’s tweet about the claims of irregularities and malfunctions comes as reports emerge of small lines at polling places and low in-person Election Day turnout – a bad sign for Republican incumbents Loeffler and Perdue.  

Karl Rove, who served as George W. Bush’s deputy chief of staff and now is financial chair of the Georgia Battleground Fund, said in a private conference call Monday that the two campaigns’ models show at least 1 million Georgians need to show up on Election Day for Republicans to win. 

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris urged Democrats to start turning out more on Tuesday, as well – despite a larger Election Day turnout usually favoring Republicans.

‘I know @ReverendWarnock and @Ossoff,’ the California senator said of the two Democratic candidates. ‘We’ve talked about the promise of our country. How we must help Americans with $2,000 stimulus checks, ensure our children have clean air to breathe, and our small businesses can thrive. That’s who they are—and who they’ll be as U.S. Senators.’

On the other hand, Donald Trump Jr. was pushing for more Republicans to turn out.

‘Get out and vote Georgia you have 2 1/2 hours to get in line to save America as you know it from the communists,’ the president’s eldest son and one of his closest campaign advisers said. ‘She’s worth fighting for!’ 

All eyes turned to the Peach State on Tuesday as thousands across Georgia headed to the polls to cast their ballots in the two consequential runoff races that will decide Senate control.

A record-shattering 3 million Georgians cast their votes early, whether in-person or by mail. That early voting figure alone is more than the previous record in overall turnout in a Georgia runoff.  

Voters began lining up in the Peach State at the crack of dawn Tuesday and polls closed at 7 p.m. – setting up Washington for a day of speculation and nail biting as the two races will not only determine which party controls the Senate, but also the trajectory of Joe Biden’s presidency.

So far, lines have not been as bad as expected – leading to speculation that Warnock and Ossoff could both emerge victorious.

‘I am hearing of virtually no lines across the state,’ Georgia’s Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said Tuesday.

Abrams tweeted Tuesday that voters are getting in and out of polling places in minutes thanks to early voting.

‘MSNBC is reporting that voters at many Atlanta Metro polling places are in and out in 5 minutes today because so many Georgians voted early!’ Abrams posted. ‘So if you haven’t voted, get out and vote by 7PM today. I’m counting on you.’

This is nothing compared to the very long lines seen for in-person early voting in Georgia this year – or those lines experienced in the pre-pandemic era in the 2018 runoff.

Similar issues that delayed results of the presidential election in Georgia could unfold after Tuesday’s runoff contests if the race turnouts are as close as they are expected to be. 

If either Loeffler or Perdue hold onto their seat, Republican will maintain a majority in the upper chamber and more than likely block all legislative actions pushed by Biden.

But if both Warnock and Ossoff emerge victorious after Tuesday’s election, Democrats will have successfully split the Senate 50-50 with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tie-breaking vote.

‘Georgia, get out and VOTE for two great Senators, @KLoeffler and @sendavidperdue. So important to do so!’ Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.   

The runoffs were triggered after none of the four candidates were able to reach the 50 per cent threshold needed in Georgia to outright win their Senate race on November 3. 

The state does not hold primary elections, but rather has all candidates on the primary ballot with a requirement that they earn at least half the vote to win. 

Trump and Biden held dueling events in Georgia Monday to try and use their coattails to increase enthusiasm for their respective parties’ candidates. 

The rallies, however, could be too little, too late.

Before Monday, more than 3 million Georgians already voted early in the Senate races – whether by mail or in person. This early voting figure far surpasses the previous record of 2.137 million votes cast overall in a runoff election before this year.

With around 5.5 million registered voters in Georgia, more than half of those who can vote have already done so before runoff election day on Tuesday.

Data from Georgia Secretary of State’s office indicates much more people showed up to vote early in person rather than absentee by mail – even in the midst of the pandemic.

Walter Jones, a spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the highest ranking Georgia election official, said: ‘We may be looking at several days’ before results are known.

He claimed the delay would most likely come from mail ballots received on Tuesday.

Election officials are not able to start counting ballots until 7 p.m. on Tuesday – after the polling places close.

Hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots will continue flooding in throughout the day Tuesday, and that, combined with tabulating in-person voting could delay the counting process.

Slow counting held up the results of the presidential election results in Georgia, with Trump holding a solid lead before mail-in ballots received on November 3 were fully processed and counted in the days after.

Joe Biden won by less than 12,000 votes in the days after Election Day – and the minuscule margin of victory led to two separate recounts in the Peach State, further delaying the final results.

Historically, Democrats do better in mail-in and early voting and Republicans perform better on Election Day. 

Trump, while pushing for Loeffler and Perdue’s reelections, also used his Monday night rally in Dalton County, Georgia to complain of his claimed widespread voter fraud and push his repeated – and largely unproven – allegations that the presidency was ‘stolen’ by Democrats.

Loeffler told Fox News on Monday night that she would join a dozen other Republican senators in a plot to challenge at least one state’s Electoral College results when Congress moves to certify the election for Joe Biden on Wednesday. 

Trump announced on his Twitter Tuesday morning that Perdue was also joining the effort to challenge the results.

‘Pleased to announce that @KLoeffler & @sendavidperdue have just joined our great #StopTheSteal group of Senators,’ the president posted. ‘They will fight the ridiculous Electoral College Certification of Biden. How do you certify numbers that have now proven to be wrong and, in many cases, fraudulent!’  

Biden won 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232.

A group of House Republicans, led by Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, started pushing the plan last month and have gained a lot of traction since then after the group of senators joined the effort. 

Loeffler attended the rally Monday night, but Perdue is still quarantining after being in contact with a staffer who tested positive for COVID-19. 

He joined the rally by video for a short time to address the crowd gathered on the tarmac for one of Trump’s last rallies of his presidency.

During the rally, Trump demanded that Vice President Mike Pence ‘come through’ as he presides over Congress certifying the election on January 6 and Republicans carry out their plan to challenge the results.

‘I hope Mike Pence comes through for us. He’s a great guy,’ Trump told an audience Monday night. ‘Of course if he doesn’t come through I won’t like him quite as much.’

While the president’s biggest Capitol Hill allies challenge some of the states’ Electoral College counts, which could elongate the Congressional session for hours or even days, Pence will just announce the results.

Even though there is little to nothing Pence can do to change the outcome, Trump is suggesting he has the power to do so.

Thousands of the president’s most staunch supporters are descending on Washington D.C. on Wednesday to protest the election results, demanding Democrats ‘stop the steal’ and Trump be declared the true winner.

The GOP has been tearing itself apart from the inside out in the midst of the Georgia runoff as Republicans pick sides on standing with the president on his claims of widespread voter fraud or not.

Specifically, Georgia Republicans are publicly split on the matter.

In a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, Trump pressured him to find 11,780 votes for him in the Peach State to overturn Biden’s win there.

Audio of the call was leaked – by Raffensperger himself – on Sunday, and revealed a desperate Trump who, at times, begged, flattered and threatened the Georgia official, who is a Republican.

Trump has also attacked Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp for not doing enough to try and overturn the results after the state went blue in the presidential elections.

Kemp appeared at an election night party with Republican supporters of the two Senate candidates Tuesday in Atlanta.  

Loeffler and Perdue, however, have stayed on the president’s side – not wanting to upset him and his supporters before their runoff elections.