Donald Trump’s relentless efforts to challenge the results of the presidential race could reduce the likelihood of a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate in the next term, Republican pollster Frank Luntz said on Sunday. The communications consultant and political commentator criticized Trump’s actions since election day during an interview with Howard Kurtz of Fox News, while the incumbent president continued to advance the baseless allegations of his campaign fraud and misconduct campaign by distorting the outcome of the November dispute.
Luntz suggested that Trump’s focus on unsubstantiated allegations of fraud harms the American public and hurts Republican congressional candidates who still campaign before the second round of Georgia’s election next week. Acting Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are pushing to defend their seats against Democratic opponents Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, after no candidate secured more than half the vote during the general election.
“It is having an impact on Republicans in the House and Senate. It looks like this president is trying to do as much damage as he can,” said Luntz on Sunday, referring to Trump’s actions since the general election before specifically addressing his potential effects on Perdue and Loeffler.
“I am afraid and I believe that those two Republicans could lose on January 5 because of what the president is doing now … and that shouldn’t be happening,” he added. “This election must be fought separately from the ugliness that is happening here in Washington.”
The running of runoff runs in Georgia is of critical interest to the state’s constituency, as well as the rest of the country, as its results will determine whether Democrats will be able to gain control of the Senate. If Ossoff and Warnock win, Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will act as a tiebreaker in the Senate – and Republicans will lose their current majority.
Recent research data indicate fierce disputes between Perdue and Ossoff, as well as Loeffler and Warnock, about a week before the January 5 runoff in Georgia. The latest statistics included in the FiveThirtyEight favorability tracker show Perdue leading Ossoff by a very narrow margin of 0.1 percentage points, and Warnock leading Loeffler by just under 1%.
Trump, alongside crowds of leading Republican figures and organizations, openly defended Perdue and Loeffler during runoff campaigns. He is expected to appear at a rally in Georgia supporting his proposals on the eve of the elections next week, after making comments at another event of the Republican campaign in early December.
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Trump’s comments supporting the two Senate candidates are often intertwined with discredited allegations that insist Democrats stole the presidential election. Although President-elect Joe Biden won a majority of popular votes, including those from Georgia, and subsequently received the number of electoral votes necessary to take office, Trump has not yet yielded. As the United States struggles with rising COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths, it continues to devote most public statements to further its campaign’s fraud charges despite the lack of evidence to substantiate these claims.
“My frustration now, at the end of this year, is that the president is tweeting about an election that is over and instead he should be tweeting about saving lives, about getting this vaccine,” said Luntz on Sunday, citing polls suggesting Republicans are less inclined to receive COVID-19 immunizations, which states have recently started administering to high-risk groups.
“Their own vote is to hear it, and they don’t realize how important it is,” he continued. “They need to wake up.”
Newsweek contacted Luntz and the Trump campaign for comment, but received no responses in time for publication.