GA-Sen A & B: AJC, “Georgia senators avoid criticizing Trump for sharing ‘white power’ video”
Not exactly the headline sitting Senators should see from The Atlanta-Journal Constitution:
U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have avoided criticizing President Donald Trump even after his posts on social media were called out for spreading racist messages.
The most recent example came on Sunday when the president shared a video on Twitter of a supporter yelling out “white power” during a counter-protest at a Florida retirement community. He even added his own commentary: “Thank you to the great people of The Villages.”
Trump deleted the post hours later, but not before it went viral and was widely criticized. The president’s spokespeople said he didn’t hear the controversial phrase often associated with white supremacists.
As anti-racism protests spread across the nation, Trump has been accused of leaning into messages that carry racist or xenophobic messages that resonate with a base of white voters resistant to social change.
Neither Perdue nor Loeffler responded to questions about his post and whether their silence indicates a reluctance in general to challenge him.
“Senator Perdue condemns racism and discrimination of any kind and believes hateful acts have no place in our society,” a spokesman for Perdue said.
Loeffler campaign spokesman Stephen Lawson added on a familiar critique: that the latest controversy is media-driven.
“This is just another one of the media's silly games that we refuse to play,” he said. “Kelly is 100% behind President Trump's plan to revive the U.S. economy, hold Big Tech accountable, and keep the American people safe. Like the President, she stands strongly against racism and hate.”
Jon Ossoff (D. GA), Perdue’s opponent, said it best:
P.S. Rev. Raphael Warnock (D. GA) picked up a big endorsement today:
Georgia Democrats are feeling very energized about this upcoming election and they have good reason:
President Trump’s campaign is running new advertising on Georgia TV stations this week clobbering Democrat Joe Biden’s record on criminal justice.
Georgia Democrats said it shows that Republicans are worried about carrying the state in November.“When was the last time a presidential candidate – a Republican – had to advertise in Georgia at all? Let alone in June of an election year?” asked former state Rep. Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost the governor's race to Republican Brian Kemp in 2018.Abrams told reporters there’s a bright side to the crowds that flocked to precincts for the June 9 primary. That day, voters had to tell poll workers whether they wanted to vote in Democratic or Republican primary contests.Democrats said 167,000 more voters pulled Democratic ballots. They said that’s up 61 percent from the 2016 presidential primary.In the last year and a half, Democrats said 750,000 new voters have registered in Georgia. About 45 percent of them are below the age of 30 and 49 percent are non-white, which are age and demographic groups that analysts say tend to lean Democratic.
Let’s finally flip Georgia blue this year. Click below to donate and get involved with Ossoff, Warnock, Biden and their fellow Georgia Democrats campaigns:
