Capitol Building, seat of United States Congress, 1827, Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States of America, 19th century.
Over the weekend, frustrated supporters of President Donald Trump in Georgia challenged Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel on why they should even vote in the upcoming Senate runoffs if “rigged” elections are “already decided.”
Here is video from one of the exchanges. A supporter asks why the RNC is not looking into the allegations with the voting machines. McDaniel stated flatly there is no evidence of that.
Then someone asks why they should vote in this election when it’s “already decided”. pic.twitter.com/gzDXB7OfEK— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) November 28, 2020
Ms. McDaniel’s Saturday campaign stop in Marietta, Georgia, appeared to backfire as Trump supporters who have adopted the president’s conspiratorial accusations about “voter fraud” asked why their vote even matters. The electoral scene in Georgia doesn’t bode well for Republicans as they look to hang onto a razor thin U.S. Senate majority that hinges on prevailing in two January 5th 2021 run-off elections for the U.S. Senate.
Both incumbent Georgia Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, face stiff, well-financed challenges from Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock, respectively.
One baffled Trump supporter at the event asked how Republicans turned out in such “crazy numbers,” but somehow now President-elect Joseph R. Biden still defeated “our” president. Not fair, he said, claiming “machines are switching the votes,” a baseless accusation lifted directly from Trump.
The recent statement by Chris Krebs on the security of the 2020 Election was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud – including dead people voting, Poll Watchers not allowed into polling locations, “glitches” in the voting machines which changed…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020
The nexus of social media, conspiracy theories, President Donald Trump’s rampant paranoia, the rise of NewsMax and OANN as “in the bag” Trump supporting American networks that daily are gaining millions of new right-of-centre viewers, coupled with Trump’s loss to the incoming Democratic President have combined to create a rapidly changing dynamic in the Georgia U.S. Senate run-off elections among Trumpian conservative voters.
From L-R. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock, Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.
If Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock win both runoff elections, their party would then capture control over the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 tie, with Democratic Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote on contentious issues before the Senate.
Ever since the U.S. presidential election on November 3rd, Trump-supporting conservative Republicans have — without evidence — claimed the election in Georgia was stolen from President Donald Trump.
Now what appears to be an ever increasingly large group of Trump cultists are actively encouraging Georgia Republican voters to boycott their state’s two U.S. Senate run-off elections, calling for that boycott in posts on the new and popular right-wing Facebook and Twitter alternative app, Parler.
Parler posts using the #BoycottGArunoffs hashtag show conservative Republicans distrust of and disgust with Georgia’s voting system, but without evidence for their position, fuelled by unsubstantiated claims from President Trump’s campaign of widespread voter fraud in Georgia, and across the United States. Not only are Parler adherents calling for a voter boycott of the run-off elections in Georgia, chatter on the social media app refers to both Georgia Republican Senate candidates as “died-in-the-wool” members of the “deep state, and an even much worse choices than their Democratic challengers. Why vote in a system that is broken?”
So, let’s see if we’ve got this straight: Trumpian cultists have launched a successful campaign — on Parler, on NewsMax, on OAAN — calling for a boycott of the January 5 2021 Georgia run-off election, the latest polls showing 450,000 Georgia GOP voters intend to boycott the run-off election.
Meanwhile, recent Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and her Fair Fight team have organized millions of Georgia voters into a militant voting bloc within the state, as well as raising tens of millions of dollars in campaign funds heading into the all important January 5 2021 Georgia run-off election — that should she and her team succeed in their endeavour and elect both Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock would mean that the Democratic party would have full control of the reins of power, in the White House and both houses of the United States Congress.
Almost enough to make a grown woman or man cry.
Though the number of people calling for a boycott may be growing, with control of the Senate up for grabs and the potential for Senator David Perdue’s race against Jon Ossoff and Senator Kelly Loeffler’s race against Rev. Raphael Warnock remains very close according to the latest polling. Both incumbent Republicans candidates would do well to monitor the boycott calls if they intend to come out as victors on Tuesday evening, January 5 2021 — already there are no-mask Trump rallies being planned.
