In Pre-Election Call, Trump Tells GA Sec of State Republicans Will ‘Vote Negative’ in Runoffs Because ‘They Hate What You Did to the President’

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President Donald Trump grimly hinted that the Republican Party will face damaging political consequences if Brad Raffensperger (R) doesn’t act in order to overturn the 2020 election results for him.

The Washington Post released fragments of audio from a lengthy phone call Trump had with Raffensperger on Saturday while the president continues to dispute his loss to Joe Biden. Much of the call consisted of Trump cycling through conspiracy theories and demanding Raffensperger hold a recalculation of votes in the state. Raffensperger pushed back by defending the vote count, dismissing Trump’s conspiracy theories, and telling him “the data you have is wrong.”

The call went on with Trump suggesting Raffensperger could be face criminal liability for “letting” election malfeasance happen and giving a “faulty election result.” Later on, Trump suggested that if Raffensperger fails to act, it will negatively impact Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in their runoff elections.

You have a big election coming up and because of what you’ve done to the president, you know, the people of Georgia know that this was a scam. Because of what you’ve done to the president, a lot of people aren’t going out to vote, and a lot of Republicans are going to vote negative, because they hate what you did to the president. Okay? They hate it. And they’re going to vote. And you would be respected, really respected, if this can be straightened out before the election.

The Georgia runoffs have become a flashpoint in the aftermath of the 2020 election. If Loeffler and Perdue were to lose their seats, control of the Senate would flip to the Democrats, which would give major political leeway for Biden’s upcoming presidency.