ATLANTA (CN) — President-elect Joe Biden headlined an Atlanta drive-in rally Monday to stump for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Reverend Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday’s pivotal runoff elections that will decide control of the chamber.
As part of a final push to oust incumbent Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Biden reminded Georgians that the eyes of the nation are upon them.
“The power is literally in your hands. One state can chart the course, not just for the next four years, but for a generation. By electing Jon and Reverend Warnock, you can make an immediate difference in your own lives and the lives of people all across this country,” he said.
If either of the two GOP candidates hold onto their seats, Republicans will maintain control of the Senate. Democrats need both Ossoff and Warnock to win their races to achieve a 50-50 split in the chamber, which would give them control because of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote.
In a move to remind voters of the national consequences of Tuesday’s election, Biden linked Democratic victory in Georgia to the release of $2,000 stimulus checks that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stalled in the Senate.
“If you send Jon and the Reverend to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door, restoring hope and decency and honor for so many people who are struggling right now,” Biden said. “If you send Senators Perdue and Loeffler back to Washington, those checks will never get there. It’s just that simple.”
By electing Ossoff and Warnock, Biden said Georgians can “break the gridlock that has gripped Washington and this nation.”
The president-elect acknowledged that the nonstop campaigning in Georgia in recent months has been “exhausting,” but asked voters to repeat the record turnout that led to his November victory in the state.
Biden won the state by nearly 12,000 votes, becoming the first Democrat to do so since Bill Clinton in 1992.
The president-elect’s appearance in the Peach State comes one day after news broke that President Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and tried to pressure state officials to “find” enough votes in the presidential election to flip the state to Trump.
“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Trump told Raffensperger in the recorded call.
The outgoing president will hold a final rally for Loeffler and Perdue in Dalton, Georgia, on Monday evening.
More than 3 million Georgians have already voted early in the runoff races.
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