Donald Trump’s attacks on Republican officials in Georgia and his insistence that his defeat by Joe Biden must be overturned are “disgusting”, the Republican lieutenant governor of the southern state has said. Geoff Duncan told CNN’s State of the Union: “It’s not American. It’s not what democracy is all about. But it’s reality right now.”
The president staged a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, on Saturday night. He began his speech, which lasted more than 90 minutes, by falsely claiming he won the state, which in fact he lost by around 12,000 votes in a result certified by the Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, more than two weeks ago. “They cheated and they rigged our presidential election, but we will still win it,” Trump falsely insisted.
Two Georgia Republicans face 5 January runoffs which will decide control of the Senate. Duncan warned that Trump’s “mountains of misinformation” could depress Republican turnout, saying: “I worry that … fanning the flames around misinformation puts us in a negative position with regards to the 5 January runoff.”
Trump vented fury at the Republican governor, Brian Kemp, calling him from the White House on Saturday to demand the Georgia result be overturned. Duncan said he believed Kemp would not call a special session to appoint alternative electors for Trump. The president also read from a prepared list of nonsensical evidence he said highlighted his victory.
Duncan said officials had increased security around them, but would continue to do their jobs. He added that Kemp, Raffensperger and himself all voted and campaigned for Trump, but “unfortunately he didn’t win the state of Georgia”.
