Georgia Lt. Gov. says Trump’s claims will hurt GOP run-off candidates

Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (right) said on Sunday he was worried President TrumpDonald John Trump Trump Launches Doug Collins V Kemp Race For Georgia Governor Defiant Trump Insists Elections Have Been ‘Rigged’ At Rally For Georgia Senate Republicans Trump Sends Condolences To The family, friends of deceased Loeffler campaign staff MOREContinued claims of winning an election it lost will hurt GOP Senate candidates in their run-off on January 5 by making GOP voters less likely to run for the polls

Duncan told CNN’s “State of the Union” that it was “heartening to listen to the president defend the conservative strategies” of senators at his Georgia rally. But the lieutenant governor said Trump’s message about the “rigging” of the elections worried me.

“I’m afraid this will continue, you know the dampening of the flames around disinformation puts us in a negative position with regard to the January 5 second round,” he said. “Mountains of misinformation don’t help the process – they only hurt it.”

“I’m afraid we will hand over a playbook to Democrats for Jan. 5, and I certainly can’t think of a worse playbook to hand over in the past four to five weeks,” he continued.

When Tapper asked if he was upset by the president’s continued attacks on Georgia GOP officials, Duncan, who backed Trump in the election, replied, “Absolutely, that disgusts me.”

“It’s not American,” he said. “It’s not democracy.”

“The troubling part is I think this short-term chaos creates doubt around January 5, and are we going to have enough Republicans to vote?” Duncan asked.

Several Georgia Republicans who backed Trump in the presidential race are now facing backlash from the president for failing to back his unsubstantiated claims that widespread election fraud cheated him out of a winner in the state.

Georgian officials carried out recounts that did not change the results showing Biden defeated Trump in Georgia, but that did not end Trump’s claims.

The Georgia Senate second-round races will determine which party controls the US Senate. Sen. David PerdueDavid PerdueTrump urged Georgia governor to persuade state legislature to overturn Biden state victory: appeals court rejects efforts to block Biden’s victory in Georgia Liberal group broadcasting Grinch-themed ads targeting Loeffler, Perdue PLUS (R-Ga.) Will face Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, while Senator. Kelly loefflerKelly LoefflerTrump Launches Doug Collins V Kemp Race For Georgia Gov. Defiant Trump Insists Election Was ‘Rigged’ At Rally For Republicans In Georgia Senate Trump Sends Condolences To Family , to friends of the late Loeffler campaign staff MORE (R-Ga.) Go against the Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock.