After letting Georgia families, workers and small businesses go months without urgently needed relief, ultra-wealthy corporate insiders Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are getting called out by none other than President Donald Trump for their failure to deliver adequate aid. Trump “assailed” the relief package on Tuesday night, threatening to veto the bill unless Senate Republicans increase direct stimulus checks to $2,000 for most Americans after slashing the previous round of checks in half, putting Perdue and Loeffler in an impossible situation less than two weeks before the runoff election.
Georgia’s Republican Senators were “ready to take a victory lap” and spent the last two days bragging about the deal and taking credit for the relief package, despite not even being in Washington during negotiations. Perdue even “cut an ad Tuesday praising the virtues of the relief package” just hours before Trump trashed the bill. Now, the two wealthy senators who repeatedly stood against extending emergency relief — one who “personally opposed” direct stimulus checks for hardworking families, and the other who said there wasn’t “a big need to extend the federal unemployment insurance” — will face questions about whether they will join Democrats and Trump in calls for more direct economic relief for Americans.
Since much of the federal emergency unemployment aid expired in July, Senate Republicans, including Perdue and Loeffler, refused to negotiate on a serious plan that could pass Congress. Their monthslong obstruction had become a liability in their campaigns, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitting that “Kelly and David are getting hammered.”
Take a look at the bind Loeffler and Perdue now find themselves in:
AJC: “Georgia’s Republican U.S. senators were ready to take a victory lap this week after the overwhelming passage of a bipartisan $900 billion coronavirus relief package. Now they have to deal with President Donald Trump’s demands to sweeten the pot — something their Democratic rivals have loudly advocated…This is unwelcome news for Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue who hoped to highlight the legislation in the closing days of the race. Perdue, for one, cut an ad Tuesday praising the virtues of the relief package.”
Associated Press: “Trump’s threats to hold up the pandemic legislation could also complicate matters for Republicans in Georgia, where two runoff races to determine control of the Senate will be held in January. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have been running as ardent supporters of Trump and will now face questions about whether they will back his call for more money for Americans.”
Newsweek: $2,000 Stimulus Check Talk Gives Mitch McConnell, Georgia Senators Headache
The Hill: Georgia Senate candidate Ossoff backs Trump’s call for $2K checks
CNBC: Democrats seize on Trump’s push for $2,000 stimulus checks for boost in Georgia Senate race
Washington Post (Opinion): Trump detonates a truth bomb in the Georgia Senate races
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