On Friday, Trump called the Republican-controlled Senate “pathetic” for failing to meet the $ 2,000 stimulus checks and other demands he wanted to pair up after the Senate voted to override his veto on the defense policy bill. US $ 741 billion.
“Now they want to give people devastated by the China Virus $ 600, instead of the $ 2,000 they desperately need,” tweeted Trump, referring to Senate Republicans. “It is not fair or smart!”
In fact, defiant Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are jumping on the president’s demand to increase pandemic aid payments by $ 1,400. It is a big final argument for them – especially in the wake of Senate Republicans who block an independent bill to increase the value of checks.
“If David Perdue was serious about supporting $ 2,000 checks for the people, he would put maximum pressure on Mitch McConnell to pass this legislation now,” Ossoff told reporters on Thursday after a campaign rally on New Year’s Eve. .
Campaigning an hour south of Atlanta on Friday, Warnock echoed Trump’s criticism of Republican Party leaders, calling him “shameful”.
“We should have passed the relief months ago. That’s what happens when politics revolve around politicians, ”said Warnock. “This is a lot of maneuver between politicians. And they live a kind of privilege that allows them to do that. “
Democrats believe their best chance of securing more money to help coronavirus with Biden in the White House depends on the party that controls the Senate, as Republican Party leaders have yet to commit to another round of funds. Ossoff and Warnock are focused on coronavirus relief measures, and Trump’s appeal – along with the resistance of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to the idea – has put Loeffler and Perdue in a difficult spot.
Senate Democrats kept the chamber in session during New Year’s Day while delaying an effort to overturn Trump’s veto of the annual defense bill, giving them a platform just days before the second round to highlight the issue – well like McConnell’s opposition to the increase in checks.
“[Americans] you will know that leader McConnell and the Republican majority prevented them from receiving the checks, quite simply, ”said Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) on Friday.
Some Republicans are concerned that these attacks are taking place. A Republican Party official who obtained anonymity to openly assess the matter said that some in the Republican Party “did not realize that every announcement Democrats are running is about Republicans opposing direct controls.”
Loeffler and Perdue said earlier this week that they supported the $ 2,000 payout increase after Trump pushed for it and Democrats used it as a differentiator in both disputes. They also blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for turning down Republican offers of coronavirus relief measures in the run-up to the presidential election.
Other Republicans do not think the issue is hurting the campaigns, especially since Trump is not attacking Loeffler and Perdue directly. In contrast, Trump on Friday asked South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to challenge him in the primaries against Senator John Thune, the Senate’s second Republican. And with 3 million votes already cast in the state’s initial voting period, there is little that can be done at this final stage to persuade voters, Republicans say, instead of focusing on publicizing election events in recent days. Loeffler spoke to Trump on Friday to reiterate support for checks, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
Some Republicans argue that the issue will simply not resonate at this point, with millions of initial votes and more than $ 500 million spent defining the race. Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist who is following relief legislation, said checks would be a “fashion culprit” if Republicans fell on Tuesday, but doubted that they really had much impact at the end of the game.
“Whatever the risk of disadvantage, the idea that this race would be a severe blow to the GOP if it bit the half trillion dollar bullet and passed on bigger checks is highly doubtful,” said Donovan. “Democrats have done an impressive job of getting their vote. Republicans now have to do the same, and that will not be driven by the size of the stimulus. “
Despite calls from the president and Democrats to increase the value of direct payments, neither Loeffler nor Perdue called for an autonomous vote on the measures, as Senate Democrats have been seeking in Washington. Instead, senators are joining their support for Trump’s unrelated demands for electoral fraud investigations and the repeal of a legal shield for social media companies.
“I have the president in all three of them,” said Perdue at a campaign event earlier this week. Even if the measure were put to a last-minute vote, however, he would not be able to support it because he is in quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
Loeffler, in an interview on Thursday, said he supports checks, but did not say he should receive an independent vote in the House. She echoed McConnell’s objections to legislation to give money to higher-income people who didn’t need it.
“Of course, I support those checks,” said Loeffler. “AND [Pelosi] recently increased income levels, for example. What we don’t have to do is save your millionaires from the blue state. ”
Republicans believe they have mitigated Ossoff and Warnock’s criticism of Covid-19’s measures after Trump signed the $ 900 billion coronavirus relief measure on Sunday, which appeared in Perdue and Loeffler’s campaign ads before he even received your signature. The campaigns were eased when Trump finally signed the bill, after initially suggesting he could veto it because he thought the value of stimulus checks, $ 600, was too low.
In particular, some Republicans say they want Trump to stop this, believing that his attacks will harm Loeffler and Perdue, as the party clings to the Senate majority. But they are not saying this publicly.
“The continuation of the president’s side against Senate Republicans, while the majority is at stake, is one of the most useless things he did during his presidency,” said a Republican strategist.