Retired Army Veteran Lisa Strange (right) cheers as Georgia U.S. Democrat Senate candidate Jon Ossoff finishes a speech during a car rally in Columbus, Georgia
(EPA-EFE)
All eyes are fixed on Georgia’s two Senate run-offs this week that will determine the balance of power in the US Senate for incoming-President Joe Biden’s administration.
President Trump and Mr Biden are set to converge on the southern state ahead of Tuesday’s polling day in a final push for votes.
Mr Biden’s victory in Georgia in the presidential election has left Republicans feeling nervous about their chances in a traditionally red state, while Mr Trump continues to rant, without evidence, about the rigged election process in the state.
The run-off – which polls show is on a knife-edge – pits Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
Meanwhile, Michelle Obama has urged voters to participate in the run-off and “make your voice heard” on 5 January.
Kamala Harris: ‘Where were you at that moment?’
Incoming Vice-President Kamala Harris today posted a video from a Georgia rally urging Democrats to vote in the state’s Senate run-off election.
She said: ‘Our children, our grandchildren, and others, they will look in our eyes, each one of us, and they will ask us, “where were you in that moment?”.
“And what I know is that we will be able to respond by telling them so much more than just how we felt at this moment. We will tell them what we did.’
Joe Middleton4 January 2021 09:29
Trump heads to Georgia amid ‘find votes’ controversy
President Trump is heading to Georgia to try and energise Republican voters in what is thought to be a close race for the US Senate.
But his visit will almost certainly be overshadowed by a leaked tape of him telling Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election.
The phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday was the latest step in an unprecedented effort by a sitting president to pressure a state official to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election that he lost. The president, who has refused to accept his loss to Democratic president-elect Biden, repeatedly argued that Raffensperger could change the certified results.
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” Trump said. “Because we won the state.”
Georgia counted its votes three times before certifying Biden’s win by a 11,779 margin, Raffensperger noted: “President Trump, we’ve had several lawsuits, and we’ve had to respond in court to the lawsuits and the contentions. We don’t agree that you have won.”
Audio snippets of the conversation were first posted online by The Washington Post.
Joe Middleton4 January 2021 09:08
Here we go again: What to expect as Georgia counts votes
Another big week in US politics as voters head to the polls in the Senate run-off race in Georgia. Read everything you need to know below:
Joe Middleton4 January 2021 09:01
