Donald Trump rages as his Republican Party edges towards losing control of US Senate in crucial elections
Donald Trump has returned to ranting on Twitter as his fellow Republicans edge towards losing their majority in the US Senate. The President of the United States made claims about voter fraud in Georgia just after midnight Wednesday, after Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock won one of two seats up for grabs there.
Counting continues in the other race, with Democrat candidate Jon Ossoff leading Republican rival David Perdue – who currently holds the seat – by fewer than 20,000 votes. Ossoff named himself winner on Wednesday morning, although official forecasters have yet to call the race.
Trump tweeted: ‘Looks like they are setting up a big “voter dump” against the Republican candidates. Waiting to see how many votes they need? ‘Just happened to have found another 4000 ballots from Fulton County. Here we go!’ Both messages were quickly flagged by Twitter as containing unverified information.
President Trump is still sore about losing the traditionally-Republican state of Georgia in November’s presidential election. He repeated claims about ballots mysteriously appearing and voting machines failing to work to try and muddy the waters there.
Prior to Tuesday’s Georgia election, Republicans held a majority in the Senate – the upper house of the US Congress – by two votes.
They will still retain a majority if Perdue manages to overtake Ossoff, and retain his seat, but will lose control of the Senate to Joe Biden’s Democrat party if Perdue loses.
Perdue was unable to hit the campaign trail during the crucial final days of the election race after one of his staffers tested positive for Covid.
Votes still to be counted come largely from Democrat-supporting areas, with many analysts predicting an Ossoff win.
” width=”100%” height=”500px”/]That would mean the Democrats control the Senate as well as the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives.
That would make it far easier for Joe Biden to pass legislation during his first term in office, and dismantle President Trump’s legacy.
Warnock beat incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler, who has so-far refused to concede. Loeffler, worth an estimated $500million, was embroiled in a stock-dumping scandal last May.
She was accused of abusing her position after selling stock following a private senate meeting about the impact of Covid on the US economy, but denies wrongdoing.
Loeffler is a close ally of President Trump’s, and appeared next to him at a rally in Dalton, Georgia, on Monday.
Some Georgia Republicans say Loeffler’s closeness to the president during his increasingly desperate attempts to remain in office severely damaged her credibility among voters.
President-elect Biden’s incoming chief of staff Ron Klain also shared his thoughts on her loss, writing: ‘Spitballing here, but it may be that telling voters that you intend to ignore their verdict and overturn their votes from the November election was NOT a great closing argument for @KLoeffler.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk
For more stories like this, check our news page