President Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary speech from the White House Thursday night, calling into question the legitimacy of the votes coming in from several states, including Georgia.
“In Georgia, I won by a lot, a lot, with a lead of getting close to 300,000 votes on election night,” the president said. “(It) got whittled down, and it’s getting to be to a point where I’ll go from winning by a lot to perhaps being down by a little bit.”
But the president’s comments lacked context and in some instances were totally false, including the assertion that Georgia’s voting apparatus is “controlled by Democrats.” The state’s elections are overseen by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is Republican and Trump supporter.
When asked for a response to the president’s statements about the election and Georgia’s role in it, Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s office directed media inquiries to the senator’s Tweet, posted before he spoke at the White House, in which she said she is “praying for four more years of Donald Trump.”
The AJC has learned that Loeffler has also donated the maximum $2,800 contribution to the Trump campaign’s “Recount Account,” a fund designated for financing post-election recounts and election contests.
Sen. David Perdue, who tonight learned that he is headed to a Jan. 5 runoff with Democrat Jon Ossoff, added “Absolutely” to Loeffler’s Tweet that she’s praying for Trump. He also Tweeted his own message that every “lawful vote” in the country should be counted and noted that he fully expects the president to be reelected if that happens.
Rev. Raphael Warnock did not respond directly to the president’s remarks Thursday night. Instead, his campaign sent reporters to a Tweet from Wednesday, calling on all votes to be counted.
As of 9:30 p.m. Thursday, the president’s lead over Joe Biden in Georgia had narrowed to fewer than 2,500 votes, with at least 14,000 votes still to be tallied, according to Raffensperger’s office.
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