ATLANTA (AP) – President Donald Trump begged and begged Georgia’s electoral chief to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state, suggesting in a phone call that the official “would find” enough votes to grant Trump victory.
Saturday’s conversation was the last step in an incumbent president’s unprecedented effort to pressure a state official to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election that he lost. The renewed intervention and the persistent and unfounded allegations of fraud by the first president to lose re-election in almost 30 years take place almost two weeks before Trump leaves office and two days before the two shifts in Georgia that will determine Senate control.
Trump confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that he had spoken to Georgia’s Secretary of State, Republican Brad Raffensperger, the day before.
Audio excerpts from the conversation were posted online by The Washington Post. A recording of the call was later obtained by The Associated Press from a person who was on the call.
The president, who refused to accept his defeat for the Democratic president-elect, is overheard saying to Raffensperger at one point: “All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, one more than us. Because we won the state. ”
Georgia certified the election results showing that Biden won the November 3 state election by 11,779 votes.
The White House referred questions to Trump’s re-election campaign, which did not respond on Sunday to a request for comment via email. Raffensperger’s office did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
Trump has repeatedly attacked how Raffensperger directed the Georgia elections, claiming without evidence that the state’s 16 electoral votes were wrongly given to Biden.
“He has no idea!” Trump tweeted Raffensperger, saying the state official “did not want or was unable” to answer questions about a series of allegations about the handling of ballots and voters that were unmasked or shot down by judges and election officials.
Raffensperger’s response on Twitter: “Respectfully, President Trump: What you are saying is not true. The truth will come out. “
There was no widespread fraud in the election, which a number of election officials across the country, as well as Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battlefield states crucial to Biden’s victory, also ensured the integrity of elections in their states. Almost all legal challenges to Trump and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two contested by the Supreme Court, which includes three judges appointed by Trump.
The Senate runoff pits Senator Kelly Loeffler against Democrat Raphael Warnock and Senator David Perdue against Democrat Jon Ossoff. With the Senate in dispute, candidates and outside groups that support them spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the disputes, flooding Georgia with television ads, correspondence, phone calls and attempts to open doors.
Loeffler said he has not decided whether to join Republican colleagues to challenge the legitimacy of Biden’s victory over Trump. Democratic candidates whose victories on Tuesday would help clear the agenda of the new government awaited a campaign visit by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Trump has persisted in attacking Georgia’s top Republicans for his defeat in the state elections, heightening fears that his words could cause some Republicans to stay away from the polls.
“I believe we will win on Tuesday because of the popular momentum, the energy of the unprecedented movement in Georgia right now,” Ossoff told CNN’s “State of the Union”. He said “it seems that in Georgia we are on the verge of historic victory”.
Loeffler, when asked about joining the growing group of Senate Republicans looking to challenge the Electoral College count, said he was “looking very closely, and I was one of the first to say that everything is at stake”. She told Fox News Sunday that “I am fighting for this president because he fought for us. He is our president and we will continue to ensure that this is a fair election. “
Warnock, the senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, who continued to preach while campaigning for the position, seemed to allude to the second round in a message delivered on Sunday. He told viewers who watched remotely due to the pandemic that they are “on the verge of victory” in their lives if they accept that God has already equipped them with the ability to overcome their opponents.
“When God is with you, you can defeat giants,” said Warnock, who ended the morning service by encouraging Georgians to vote on Tuesday. “It is very important that your voice is heard at this decisive moment in our country,” he said. “I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to say who to vote for.”
Loeffler was nominated to fill a vacancy when Republican Johnny Isakson resigned, and she will be in the Senate, with victory or defeat next week, until the election is certified. Perdue’s seat will be temporarily vacated after his term expires on Sunday, at the end of six years.
Harris was scheduled to be in Savannah on Sunday afternoon. Trump and Biden plan last-minute personal efforts on Monday to mobilize voters after more than 3 million people voted early.
The president continues to create turmoil for Loeffler and Perdue, questioning Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia and the reliability of the state’s electoral systems.
Trump also tweeted that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, also Republicans, “did less than nothing. They are a disgrace to the great people of Georgia! ”
The president last week asked Kemp to step down; the governor considered this a “distraction”.
Despite the attacks, Loeffler said he believed voters would respond to Trump’s expected request during his next visit to attend.
“He will tell voters the same thing: you have to go out and vote in Georgia, because that is very important,” said Loeffler.
Perdue, who is quarantined after being exposed to a staff member with the coronavirus and will not appear with Trump at Monday’s rally, said he would have joined the Senate election race had he been in Washington. “I am encouraging my colleagues to object. This is something that the American people demand now, ”he told Fox News“ Sunday Morning Futures ”.
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Superville reported from Washington.