The two Republicans tried to claim credit for bringing help to Georgians, despite President Trump’s initial waffling over whether to sign the bill. The Democrats said the $600 payments to Americans were too low.
The $900 billion pandemic relief package that President Trump belatedly signed Sunday night gained steam on Monday as an issue in the Georgia Senate runoffs, with the two Republican incumbents seeking to ride the tailwinds of the stimulus bill and claim credit for helping to bring aid to the state. “Help is on the way,” Senator Kelly Loeffler tweeted Monday morning, applauding the stimulus package with its billions of dollars for vaccine distribution, schools and other beneficiaries, and a $600 payment to millions of Americans. She and her fellow incumbent, David Perdue, released a statement Sunday night thanking the president for finally approving the stimulus funds, avoiding the fact that Mr. Trump plunged the fate of the bill into turmoil last week by calling it “a disgrace” and demanding that direct payments be increased to $2,000. At the same time, the two Democratic candidates — Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock — on Monday criticized the Republican-led Senate for dragging its feet for months on the bill. They called the $600 payments too small and seized on the president’s call for larger payments to bolster their position. “David Perdue does not care about us, and $600 is a joke,” Mr. Ossoff told several hundred people at an outdoor get-out-the-vote rally with Mr. Warnock in DeKalb County, one of the suburban Atlanta counties that has become increasingly diverse over the past decade. “You send me and Reverend Warnock to the Senate and we will put money in your pocket,” Mr. Ossoff said. He faces Mr. Perdue in the runoff, while Mr. Warnock is challenging Ms. Loeffler. Mr. Perdue has been running ads attacking Mr. Ossoff for calling the $600 relief checks “a joke” even though the president had also called them far too small.
