Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan 'alarmed' at Georgia election misinformation
Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan presides over the Senate chamber on March 13, 2020.
ATLANTA - Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan is the latest high-profile Republican in the state to push back on President Donald Trump's accusations of voter fraud.
Speaking to CNN Tuesday, Duncan defended Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, saying that they were "working hard" and called the misinformation "alarming" and "disheartening."
"What is alarming is the amount of misinformation that continues to flow. It's alarming to me," Duncan said. "It's certainly disheartening to watch folks willing to kind of put their character and their morals out there just so they can spread a half-truth or a lie in the efforts to maybe to flip an election. And certainly, that's not what democracy is all about."
Duncan's comments come multiple days of President Trump accusing Kemp, Raffensperger, and others of allowing Georgia's election to be stolen by fraudulent actors with people behind the scenes "making deals."
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On Monday, Trump blasted Kemp as “hapless” for not intervening to “overrule” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s certification of Biden’s win and retweeted multiple people calling the Kemp administration "corrupt." The president baselessly claimed in a Tuesday tweet that Kemp had allowed Georgia to be “scammed.”
On Sunday, Trump told Fox News he was “ashamed” he’d endorsed Kemp in his 2018 GOP primary for governor. Kemp’s office noted in response that state law gives the governor no authority to "interfere" in the election, despite Trump’s contention that Kemp could “easily” invoke “emergency powers.” Meanwhile, Raffensperger, also a Trump supporter, has accused the president of throwing him “under the bus” for doing his job and saying he "refused to accept the facts."
Duncan said he urged the president and Republicans to "redirect their post-election approach" to the upcoming Georgia Senate runoff, giving a warning of the dangers that could happen to the party should Republicans continue with the narrative.
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"I think short term we run the risk of alienating voters for our Senate race that is coming upon us for Sen. Loeffler and Sen. Perdue. And we need them. I want them in that Senate," he said. "And long term, I think we hurt the brand of our Republican Party, which is certainly bigger than one person long term."
The GOP needs one more seat for a majority in the Senate. Democrats need Jon Ossoff to defeat Perdue and Raphael Warnock to defeat Loeffler to force a 50-50 Senate, positioning Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking majority vote.
Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Georgia at the end of this week - with Pence visiting Savannah on Friday and Trump planned for a rally on Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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