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United States President Donald J. Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on Thanksgiving Day in Washington, DC, USA, November 26, 2020. EPA-EFE / Erin Schaff / POOL
The state of Georgia is on everyone’s mind when they go to the polls on Tuesday, January 5, to vote for their candidates for the United States Senate, to decide if they are a Republican candidate or if the Democrats have the upper hand.
With US President Donald Trump making headlines Sunday afternoon for the wrong reasons, again, Americans are set for an excellent political week, with all eyes on Georgia.
News of Trump’s latest attempt to reverse the Georgia vote overshadowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who kept her office when the House voted Sunday. Voting began around noon, as the Chamber worked on physical distancing and other Covid-19 restrictions. This will be Pelosi’s fourth term after first donning the mantle of Speaker in 2007.
The new Congress was sworn in on Sunday and re-elected Pelosi; Democrats have a smaller majority than in the previous four years, having lost eight seats in the November elections.
President-elect Joe Biden congratulated Pelosi on her re-election, calling her “a pioneering leader,” adding, “I look forward to working closely with the speaker.”
Meanwhile, Trump was exposed on Sunday for trying to manipulate the figures for the November 2020 elections in Georgia. This follows a phone call he made on Saturday to pressure the Georgia secretary of state to change the state numbers. The audio of the call was obtained and published by the Washington Post.
The hour-long call has Trump berating and cajoling Brad Raffensperger, saying, “The people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry and there is nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated. “Because what Trump would really like Raffensperger to do is,” I just want to find 11,780 votes. “
Almost exactly two months after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, Trump is still trying to overturn Biden’s victory in Georgia. Biden won by 11,779 votes.
Raffensperger can be heard telling Trump that he is working with incorrect data. But the outgoing president will not be dissuaded, as he very clearly believes that he will get a last minute pardon and will remain president for another four years: “You know the people of Georgia know this is a scam.”
On Sunday, Trump also tweeted that he had spoken to Raffensperger about voter fraud and found him “unable or willing to answer questions … You have no idea!”
Yesterday I spoke with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about Fulton County and voter fraud in Georgia. He did not want, or could not, answer questions like the “under the table ballot” scam, destruction of ballots, “voters” from other states, dead voters and more. You have no idea!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2021
Speaking at a drive-in movie theater in Savannah, Georgia, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said that Trump’s phone call to Raffensperger “was without a doubt the voice of despair” and a “bold abuse of power by the President of the United States.”
Harris is in Georgia ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election to rally support and get voters to back Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who are up against Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. Biden was expected to appear in the state on Monday to urge voters to choose blue.
These rallies focus on getting voters to the polls as some three million Georgia voters have already voted early.
Harris and Biden’s presence in Georgia testifies to the importance of winning the second round for Democrats; if they do, they control the House and Senate. Surveys show Warnock and Ossof have thin cables on Republicans who may need Trump to help Red voters run to the polls. However, it is unclear whether Trump’s attack on Georgia Republicans will make him a help or a hindrance. Voters can also be confused by your mixed message: why should you vote, if the vote is rigged / stolen, etc.?
The confirmation by the Senate of the Electoral College votes is scheduled for Wednesday, January 6. This “event” is usually mostly a formality, but this time it seems poised for a showdown, with several Republican senators announcing over the weekend that they planned to join Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and object to Biden’s certification of victory.
Led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the 11 senators announced Saturday that they would object to certifying the votes of the state Electoral College, saying that “deep mistrust in our democratic processes will not magically disappear. It should concern us all. And it represents a constant threat to the legitimacy of any subsequent administration. “
This follows a December 30, 2020 announcement by Hawley blaming the election result on an “unprecedented effort by mega-corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden.” .
About 100 Republican members of the House are expected to add their support to the objections.
Trump supporters are expected to take part in protest marches that day, with the president himself retweeting tweets inviting people to take part in the #MarchForTrump and #StopTheSteal protests on Wednesday.
We are pleased to announce that the site of our January 6 event will be The Ellipse at President’s Park, just steps from the White House.
Join us on January 6th, doors will open at 7am and you’ll want to get there early.
RSVP @ https://t.co/6q2dltZHtN!#MarchForTrump #StopTheSteal
– Amy Kremer (@AmyKremer) January 2, 2021
Trump supporters are planning a large rally Wednesday to protest Congress certifying Biden’s victory. Trump started the ball rolling last week, announcing and retweeting details and schedules. DC police are reportedly preparing for a possible repeat of the knife fights and street battles that followed the announcement that Biden had won the election in November. DM
An Wentzel is a nighttime editor and specialist reporter for the Daily Maverick. She went to the United States to visit her family when the pandemic struck and is currently abandoned in the land of the “free.”
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