Trump Goes All In On Georgia Special Election With Robocall, Fiery Tweets

/// CAPTION:Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff is seen with supporters outside of the East Roswell Branch Library in Roswell, Ga., on the first day of early voting, Monday, March 27, 2017. The postelection dominoes of President Donald Trump’s administration picks and a California Democratic appointment have created five openings in the U.S. House of Representatives, including the Republican-leaning 6th Congressional District outside of Atlanta. Democrats believe Ossoff, 30, has a shot based on Trump’s underperformance and the candidate’s early fundraising success. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz)[unknown.png][unknown_1.png]ALEX SANZASSOCIATED PRESS TELEVISION NEWSASANZ@AP.ORG[cid:44442C73-57D8-4C6F-AB06-7A002D37CBF0] [cid:C13A27B9-4FD1-47CB-9988-5E2CFDF955F4] 101 MARIETTA STREET NWATLANTA, GA 30303(404) 353-5439ASSOCIATED PRESS TELEVISION NEWS IS THE INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION DIVISION OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE WORLD'S OLDEST AND LARGEST NEWSGATHERING ORGANIZATION. VIDEO CAPTURED BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CAN BE SEEN BY OVER HALF OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION ON ANY GIVEN DAY.CLICK HERE TO SEND NEWS TIPS, DOCUMENTS OR OTHER FILES SECURELY AND CONFIDENTIALLY TO AP.
In a Monday, March 27, 2017 photo, Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff is seen with supporters outside of the East Roswell Branch Library in Roswell, Ga., on the first day of early voting. President Donald... In a Monday, March 27, 2017 photo, Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff is seen with supporters outside of the East Roswell Branch Library in Roswell, Ga., on the first day of early voting. President Donald Trump is attacking Ossoff, the leading Democratic candidate for a special election in a typically conservative Georgia congressional district, with Republicans bidding to avoid a major upset. On Twitter, Trump said Monday April 17, 2017, that "The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressional race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!" (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

As Tuesday’s special election to fill an open House seat in Georgia drew closer, President Donald Trump upped his attacks on Jon Ossoff, the Democratic candidate leading the race.

The President recorded a robocall for the Republican National Committee urging Republican voters to get out to the polls on Tuesday, but did not endorse a specific Republican candidate.

“Liberal democrats from outside of Georgia are spending millions and millions of dollars trying to take your Republican congressional seat away from you. Don’t let them do it,” Trump said on the call, according to The Hill. “Only you can stop the super-liberal Democrats and Nancy Pelosi’s group, and in particular Jon Ossoff. If you don’t vote tomorrow, Ossoff will raise your taxes, destroy your healthcare, and flood our country with illegal immigrants.”

Trump’s robocall came as he fired off several tweets about the race to fill the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Late Monday night, Trump said that a runoff would count as a victory for the GOP, given the crowded Republican field. (Tuesday’s race will function as a jungle primary, with candidates from all parties competing against each other, and if no candidate clears 50 percent, the top two will head to a June runoff.)

Trump followed up Tuesday morning and singled out Ossoff.

 

During a Monday night interview on MSNBC, Ossoff offered a mild criticism of Trump.

“It was one of the most divisive and destructive presidential races in U.S. history and I think that many have been hoping that the president will heal some of those wounds, show good faith and a more inclusive approach to governance,” Ossoff told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews when first asked about Trump. “So far, I don’t think that he’s allayed those concerns among those who believe that that divisive approach to government is not right for the United States.”

Asked again to describe Trump, Ossoff said, “I have great respect for the office. I don’t have great personal admiration for the man himself.”

When asked yet again, Ossoff said he does not know Trump personally but that he would be willing to work with the President on an infrastructure package.

Ossoff has been leading the crowded field by a wide margin, but polls show him falling short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Democrats have been hopeful from the outset that they can use anti-Trump energy to flip the ruby-red district Democratic, especially given that Trump only won the district by one point in November.

Latest Livewire
98
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Just when I thought that Trump has gotten the hang of this…

    Anyhow, t minus 11 hrs…

  2. “Some mighty fine coattails on that suit, Mr. Emperor.”
    Keep talkin’, Donald

  3. Trump it would appear is incapable of coherent thought.
    He can’t put a sentence together without a script and even then it is touch and go
    It all appears to exacerbated by him trying to cram his brain farts into 140 characters.
    Seriously
    The first 100 days in dog years
    I don’t know about you , but I think I’ve had enough

  4. And we will have people calling all day into GA-06, trying to get out the vote. :wink: There is a high level of enthusiasm and energy . The goal of course is to get Ossoff over 50% today, but if we don’t achieve that, we start right back up tomorrow,

    Trump calling into the district probably is causing more hurt than help. He decidedly under performed in the Sixth, and I seriously doubt anything has happened to improve people’s attitudes towards him since Nov. Indeed, the underlying issue of the entire race is anti-Trump; having him call in and remind people that he is in office helps us.

  5. Good luck Jon, and to all down GA way who have already stunned a nation with a great campaign and a terrified the GOP with such a competitive race.

    Thank you for watching Caroline. I can’t bear this insufferable and useless crew anymore.

    [quote=“sickneffintired, post:4, topic:54474”]
    Trump it would appear is incapable of coherent thought.
    [/quote]It’s all an act, he wants to dominate the news cycle on TV and by tweeting he does. The media even report and analyze his foreign policy nuclear war tweets. We’re at a point of absurdity beyond anything I have ever seen in politics.

    The stupider the tweet the better, the more offensive the tweet the better.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

92 more replies

Participants

Avatar for jootjoint Avatar for overreach_this Avatar for srfromgr Avatar for brooklyndweller Avatar for sysprog Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for asanders91360 Avatar for mooster Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for mantan Avatar for sickneffintired Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for darcy Avatar for tao Avatar for captaincommonsense Avatar for darrtown Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for birdford Avatar for circusmax Avatar for katscherger Avatar for centralasiaexpat Avatar for carolson Avatar for outsidertrading618

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: