The president-elect declined to wade into a burgeoning scandal involving Trump pressuring state officials to ‘find’ the votes to deliver him Georgia's presidential electors.
PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE Biden went to Georgia on Monday, the day after explosive revelations that President Donald Trump pressured state officials there to "find" votes to deliver him Georgia's presidential race.
And he said nothing about Trump's behavior, even as Biden encouraged voters to send Democratic nominees Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the U.S. Senate in a runoff election Tuesday.
Biden took his verbal shots at Trump, lambasting the "godawful" effort the outgoing administration has made in getting the COVID-19 vaccine out to states and into the arms of the public. But the only reference Biden made to the stunning, hour-long phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was bafflement that Trump was still trying to stay in office if he didn't want to do the job of president.
"The president spends more time whining and complaining than doing something about the problem. I don't know why he still wants the job. He doesn't want to do the work," Biden told a rally in Atlanta, flanked by Ossoff and Warnock.
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Wins by Ossoff and Warnock over GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively, on Tuesday would do a great deal for his own Democratic agenda, Biden said. A dual Democratic win would put the Senate at 50-50, making Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaker and effectively giving the majority to the Democrats.
But that doesn't mean Ossoff and Warnock would be a rubber stamp for him, Biden noted. "I don't believe your United States senators work for me. They'll work for Georgia. They should be loyal to you, to Georgia, and to the United States Constitution – period," Biden said.
Cartoons on President Donald Trump
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As for Perdue and Loeffler, "They think they don't work for you, they work for Trump," Biden said. "They think they've sworn an oath to Donald Trump, not to the United States Constitution."
Warnock and Ossoff are both in tight races against their GOP foes. Loeffler is still in her seat, having been appointed to fill the seat held by former Sen. Johnny Isakson, who left in 2019 for health reasons. Perdue's term expired Sunday. The seat is open until the runoff is completed.
Georgia, long a reliable GOP prize, went narrowly for Biden in the presidential race, infuriating Trump, who is still trying to get Raffensperger to find a way to flip the Peach State to his side. Raffensperger, in the call that was recorded and leaked to The Washington Post, kept telling the president that data Trump had of voter fraud – including votes by dead people, out-of-state residents and others – was unfounded.
"If people can't handle the facts, I'm sorry. But those are the facts," Raffensperger told MSNBC on Monday. He also said – despite criticism from Republicans unhappy about the release of the damning tape – that he didn't know how the audio recording got out to the media.
"All I do know is that it got released, and it's out there," Raffensperger said, adding that he was glad it was public.
Biden didn't mention the GOP secretary of state but made an oblique reference to Trump's efforts to take the state away from him.
"Politicians cannot assert, take or seize power. Power is given, granted by the American people alone," Biden said.
Susan Milligan, Senior Politics Writer
Susan Milligan is senior political writer at U.S. News & World Report. She has covered ... READ MORE
site:https://ptejengko.substack.com/p/biden-takes-high-road-in-georgia
site:https://www.thewyco.com/news/biden-takes-high-road-in-georgia-amid-scandal-over-trumps-call-for-votes-05-01-2021
site:https://www.atoallinks.com/2021/biden-takes-high-road-in-georgia-amid-scandal-over-trumps-call-for-votes/
Tags: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Georgia, Senate, elections