President Donald Trump holds rally in Georgia
President Donald Trump held a rally in Valdosta, Georgia on Saturday night.
"We won Georgia, just so you understand," Trump said at the beginning of the rally. Georgia officials have certified results showing that Democrat Joe Biden won by a little more than 10,000 votes.
Officially, the rally was to show support for Georgia Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. They are facing Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. Loeffler and Perdue took the stage briefly.
The election will decide which party controls the Senate. Currently, there are 48 Democrats and 50 Republicans in the Senate. If Ossoff and Warnock are elected, there will be 50 Democrats and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will be the tie-breaking vote.
"You will decide whether your children will grow in a socialist country or a free country. Socialist is just the beginning for these people. They want to go further than socialism. They want to go into a communistic form of government," Trump said at the rally.
Trump has said repeatedly that he believes that he really won Georgia, and has repeatedly attacked Republican leaders of that state, including Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Some Republican leaders in Georgia and elsewhere are concerned that if Trump continues the drumbeat of claims that elections are unreliable, some voters will decide to sit out the January 5th election.
"They are going to try to rig this election, too," Trump said at the rally. "We continue to fight. We've had some great moments. We just need somebody with courage. And we'll be going up to the Supreme Court very shortly," Trump said to cheers from the crowd. "I got more votes than any sitting president in history."
Others have spoken out about how Trump's repeated claims of cheating have led some to threaten election officials and workers. On Tuesday, Georgia Voting Systems Manager Gabriel Sterling,who is a Republican, demanded that Trump stop his attacks on election integrity.
“Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language. Senators, you have not condemned this language or these actions,” Sterling said, visibly angry. “This has to stop. We need you to step up, and if you’re going to take a position of leadership, show some.”
Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.