President Donald Trump heads to Georgia on Saturday to campaign for two Republican senators one month ahead of a critical runoff that will determine which party controls the Senate. But Trump’s visit comes as he has spent the last several weeks consumed by his own election loss while attacking party officials in the state, casting doubt on its voting process and questioning one of the lawmakers he’s urging voters to elect.
If Democrats can win both races, it will dramatically change the trajectory of the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency. It would make the Senate a 50-50 tie between the two caucuses, allowing Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the deciding vote — giving him much greater leeway in naming his Cabinet and confirming judges. But if the Republicans pick off just one of the seats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will retain control of the chamber, forcing Democrats into a much more compromising position. But Trump’s impending campaign rally in Georgia has some Republicans on edge, concerned Trump could depress turnout among his base if he continues to rail against Georgia’s election system and launches more attacks against Kemp. «It’s not helpful if he goes down there and attacks the governor for an hour and a half. But really, what needs to happen is he needs to say a couple things — the right things — that will be loaded into a teleprompter and that we can cut up and use for TV,» a Trump adviser said. «If he says the few things that we need him to say, it’ll be helpful.» Despite his popularity with Republicans, Trump was reluctant to campaign in Georgia and grudgingly agreed to visit one month before the critical race after being lobbied by several allies, according to multiple sources. Perdue and Loeffler both called Trump before Thanksgiving, urging him to come campaign in their state ahead of the runoff, a Republican familiar with the conversation said.
