“The 2020 elections were rigged and stolen,” Purdue said during a recent debate.
However, Perdue’s former GOP colleagues in the Senate are not impressed.
“This is absurd,” Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said when asked about Purdue’s remarks by his former colleague. “I think the effort to try to cancel the election, when there is no evidence of widespread fraud at this stage, is detrimental to democracy and offensive to the American public.
“Hell, yes,” one of Perdue’s closest friends in the Senate told CNN when asked if he was surprised by the transformation of his former colleague’s campaign.
“I don’t know if he believes it or not. I really don’t believe it,” said Sen. Kevin Kramer, a North Dakota Republican. “But I’m sure it’s a political strategy.”
In fact, in his six years in the Senate before losing his re-election last year, Purdue was a major Republican in the Senate, a Conservative businessman who usually votes with his party.
But Perdue announced his offer in December, challenging Gov. Gov. Brian Kemp, blaming Kemp for his and then Sen. Kelly Loefler’s losses, which cost Senate Republicans, arguing that the governor did not do enough to undo the results.
Former President Donald Trump, who is ruthlessly attacking Kemp for his loss in Georgia, backed Perdue, falsely claiming that Kemp “committed massive election fraud.”
Many of Perdue’s colleagues believe there is a reason he changed his tune.
“My guess is that when he was persuaded to run, it was part of the conversation,” said South Dakota Sen. John Tun, the second Senate Republican, when asked about Perdue’s allegations. “But it doesn’t sound like it’s working very well – at least for now.”
Purdue’s candidacy highlights the dilemma facing Republicans as they try to position themselves for the fall election. Many candidates like Perdue are eager for Trump’s support, ready to repeat his false claims for 2020 in order to gain the support of his ardent supporters. However, others say the reminder of the past is a recipe for stumbling ahead at a time when the Republican political environment is rich.
“I think it’s better to ask, ‘Do you think voters want to look to the future or to the past?'” Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, said in an interview. “And the answer is obvious. They want solutions now.”
“I know him well,” West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said when asked about Perdue’s allegations. “Obviously I don’t agree with that.”
On Thursday, Lofler was on Capitol Hill, having lunch with Republicans in the Senate and discussing his efforts to engage voters in Georgia. Behind closed doors, Löfler spoke to senators about the Perdue-Kemp race and told them that Kemp seemed to be on track to win straight and avoid a run-off, according to senators who spoke to her.
In a brief interview, Loefler avoided questioning whether she agreed with Perdue’s political strategy, calling the 2020 election “rigged and stolen,” telling CNN: “I’m totally focused on the electorate. We need to make sure that voters vote. So, this is my number one priority. ”
Asked to comment on the combination of surprise from Republican senators and criticism of their former colleague’s decision to put the 2020 election at the center of his 2022 campaign, Jenny Sweet, a Perdue campaign spokeswoman, said: shares at the moment. “
As soon as he joined the race, Perdue filed a lawsuit to shed light on Trump’s false allegations, although there were three separate points in Georgia and there was no evidence that the fraud was worth Trump’s or Purdue’s election.
Perdue’s first and newest television commercial promoted the lie that the election had been stolen. Trump has rallied for Perdue in Georgia, raised money for him in his Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago, and has advertised for Kemp, saying he can’t beat Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. Trump called a televised rally with Perdue last week after early voting began in the May 24 primary.
Kemp’s campaign spent more than $ 5.3 million on advertising, compared to about $ 1.3 million for Perdue. But other Trump-related groups, such as Take Back Georgia and MAGA, Again! trying to fill the gap.
Purdue hoped Trump would help him win. But if he fails, it will be a serious blow to the former president in his campaign to oust Republicans who do not adhere to his election lies in 2020 – and his status as king. After the primary election last Tuesday, Trump boasted that his candidates had won 22-0. But even Trump seems to acknowledge that Perdue could threaten the series.
“Remember, you know, my record is flawless,” Trump said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “The real story has to be about the approvals – not David Purdue’s – and by the way, no race is over.
In interviews with more than a dozen Senate Republicans for the Georgia race, most said their party must stop talking about 2020 if they want to win Congress back in 2022 and win victories at the state level.
“Well, I like David, but you know that if Kemp wins, it means people are watching after 2020,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close ally of Trump. – This is the only conclusion you can come to.
Iowa Sen. Johnny Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, called Purdue a “smart man” and said “people respect him.”
But when asked if Republicans should talk about 2020 in this year’s election, Ernst rebuffed, saying it “just makes us look like we’re a party looking to the past, not the future.”
Many of her colleagues see it the same way.
“Perdue and I will probably agree to disagree on this particular issue, and this is not the first time I have had to agree to disagree with my friends and colleagues,” said Senator Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican. “We have not found any evidence to suggest that the election would be overturned by what we would find in terms of problems in the election cycle itself.”
Others have made it clear that Republicans should not continue to talk about 2020.
“I think we need to look ahead,” said Sen. Tom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. “You know, I think the most important election is the next election. I’m only focused on November.”
“The only election I’m worried about is the 2022 election,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said when asked about Perdue’s comments. “And then I’m worried about the elections in 2024 after that and I’m looking to the future.”
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who will be re-elected as Grasley in 2022, said he had not “paid much attention” to Georgia’s gubernatorial race, saying “we have our hands full” in the Senate. . Pressed whether he would talk about 2020 during the campaign, Rubio said: “I will talk about the things I have been working on.”
And Texas Sen. John Cornin, a member of the Republican leadership, said he would not run for governor when asked about Perdue’s comments.
But he added: “I’ll tell you, I don’t think the governor – I think Joe Biden won the election board and was properly confirmed president.”
And when asked if he was concerned that members of his party were still supporting election lies in 2020, Romney said calmly: “I stopped worrying about members of my party.”
The reaction of many of Perdue’s former colleagues in the Senate seems to have been reflected by the Republican electorate in Georgia, according to a public opinion poll, which shows that Kemp has a double-digit lead over Perdue. Even some of Purdue’s former allies in Georgia wondered why he decided to run against Kemp.
Eric Tanenblatt supports Kemp, although he helped raise money for Purdue’s last campaign in the Senate and was chief of staff to former Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue, a cousin of the former senator. He said there was a “very good chance” Kemp would win the May 24 primary by a majority of votes, enough to avoid a run-off.
“I think the majority of Republican voters in the primary election think we should go beyond the 2020 election,” Tanenblatt said.
“I’m just puzzled why David is doing this,” he added. “He was a senator with great experience, he represented the state well, and unfortunately, what we will remember about him now is not what he did in the Senate, but that he took over as incumbent Republican governor.”
CNN’s Ted Barrett, Morgan Reamer and David Wright contributed to this report.
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