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According to two sources, in a recent phone call Trump criticized Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for calling him a “moron” and “crazy” and asked why Senator Kelly Loeffler failed to win a majority votes on Election Day, putting her in a flow against Democratic Reverend Raphael Warnock. Last December, Trump pressured Kemp to take the seat vacated by Johnny Isakson with Doug Collins, not Loeffler, but Kemp still named Loeffler – a factor Trump has insisted on in recent days.
If Democrats can win both races, it will drastically change the trajectory of the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency. That would make the Senate a 50-50 tie between the two caucuses, allowing Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the deciding vote – giving him much more leeway to appoint his cabinet and confirm judges. But if Republicans pick just one of the seats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will retain control of the chamber, forcing Democrats to take a much more compromising position.
But Trump’s impending election rally in Georgia has some Republicans on edge over fears that Trump will lower the turnout among his base if he continues to denounce Georgia’s electoral system and launch further attacks on Kemp.
“It’s not helpful if he goes out there and attacks the governor for an hour and a half. But what it really takes is that he has to say a few things – the right things – that will be loaded. in a teleprompter and that we can cut and use for television, “a Trump adviser said.” If he says the few things we need from him, that will be helpful. “
Despite his popularity with Republicans, Trump was reluctant to campaign in Georgia and reluctantly agreed to surrender a month before the critical race after being asked by several allies, according to multiple sources.
Perdue and Loeffler both called Trump ahead of Thanksgiving, urging him to campaign in their state ahead of the second round, a Republican familiar with the conversation said.
Others, like Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel, have also encouraged Trump to campaign in Georgia, making him believe he can take credit for a Loeffler and Perdue victory in January if he does. campaign in the State of Peach.
Trump will hold a rally on Saturday at a hangar at the airport in Valdosta, Georgia, following a visit by Vice President Mike Pence to the state on Friday. Kemp, who Trump called “unhappy” this week, was scheduled to meet Pence on the tarmac but was called off at the last minute due to a “family emergency.” It’s unclear whether he’ll meet Trump on the tarmac on Saturday.
Several sources who have spoken to Trump in recent days have described a president more obsessed with his own electoral loss than with preserving Republican power in the Senate, despite the number of members of his party who have privately expressed a desire to put the 2020 elections behind them and focus on the flow of Georgia.
Trump recorded a 46-minute video this week that was mostly filled with recycled grievances and lies about the election, though his own attorney general said this week that the Justice Department had uncovered no evidence of likely voter fraud. to change the outcome of the elections. Trump wondered how the Republicans could have done so well in the 2020 race when he was losing.
“It is statistically impossible that the person, I, who led the charge lost,” Trump falsely claimed in the video.
Asked about Trump’s reluctance to visit the state, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told CNN: “Control of the US Senate is at stake in both Georgia elections and the President knows it is imperative that Senator Perdue and Senator Loeffler succeed.. The President is traveling to Georgia to rally Republicans and remind them of what is at stake. “
When asked if he thought the president would change his mind on Saturday, Chambliss told CNN he was not predicting what Trump would do. “And that’s part of my concern,” he said.
“I want him to come here to talk about Kelly and David, and how important they are to the future of the country, and how their election is so essential to his legacy,” said the former senator. “If he wants his legacy to endure, then he has to make sure we win these two seats – and he has to say it in no uncertain terms.”
Trump’s team and the RNC coordinated with the Perdue and Loeffler campaigns to get the vote in Georgia. Donald Trump Jr. has made it clear that his father’s supporters must support the GOP ticket. Trump Jr. is featured in a series of commercials that will run on conservative media designed to get the Trump vote out.
CNN’s Alex Rogers and Ryan Nobles contributed to this report.
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