Donald Trump is successfully bullying Republicans in Georgia to legislate based on his "big lie" of election fraud.
On Saturday, Trump traveled to the Peach State for a rally against Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, two statewide elected Republicans that Trump has publicly trashed since they refused his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state, which was won by Joe Biden.
Even though Trump has never produced evidence of widespread voter fraud, Republicans continue to legislate based on his lies, according to a new Washington Post editorial.
"Georgia was ground zero in the fight over U.S. democracy last year, as Republican state lawmakers forced through a noxious bill packed with unnecessary voting restrictions, inspired by former president Donald Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election. This year, Mr. Trump is backing a slate of candidates in the state — from governor to insurance commissioner — picked exclusively for their devotion to false claims about the 2020 vote. And some state lawmakers are trying once again to change election rules based on these falsehoods. As before, they would make elections less fair and less secure — the opposite of what they claim to want," the editorial board wrote.
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Trump is backing former Georgia Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) for Governor and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) for Secretary of State.
"The Georgia House passed a bill that would empower the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to launch election probes, a move akin to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) demanding a new election police unit under his control. Georgia’s secretary of state already has the power to investigate election crimes. But Mr. Trump has lambasted the sitting secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, for failing to swing the 2020 vote the former president’s way. Not only would the bill further humiliate Mr. Raffensperger, it also would risk chilling legitimate election activity by making voting activists and even individual voters fear aggressive, politicized investigations. The 2020 Georgia vote was verified and reverified; there was no uptick in election crime requiring a concerted new law enforcement response," the newspaper explained.
On Sunday, Trump issued a statement calling Kemp "horrendous" and arguing "Kemp is a disaster for Georgia."
Trump has endorsed conspiracy theorists in a number of races for offices that oversee elections.
On Saturday, Trump is traveling to Michigan for a rally supporting QAnon activist Kristina Karamo for Secretary of State. In Arizona, Trump is backing state Rep. Mark Finchem for Secretary of State. Finchem, who does not live where he is registered to vote, has spread election fraud conspiracy theories, QAnon, and in 2018 pushed a conspiracy theory from a former porn star concerning MAGABomber Cesar Sayoc.
"If anything needs changing, it’s the bad law they passed last year. Enough legislating based on conspiracy theories and lies," The Post declared.
Read the full editorial.
