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DON JONES INDEX… |
GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED |
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DOW JONES INDEX: 12/9/20…30,173.88; 12/2/20…29,823.92; 6/27/13…15,000.00) LESSON
for December 9, 2020 – “THE DEVIL WENT DOWN to GEORGIA!” So now it’s down to Dixie… the Senate, that is… and, with it, the country and the Cabinet
– foreign policy and the economy and, as ever, plague! Thanks to a President who couldn’t even win
one of the reddest of red states, and to lowly Libertarian who nobody has
ever heard of, nor will, both Georgia Republican Senators have been forced
into runoffs with their “radical liberal” Democratic challengers. If Kelly Loeffler
and David Perdue expected, or even hoped for, a Trump bump from the President
who departed the security of his White House bunker to voyage to Valdosta,
Georgia (home of some mighty find onions, but little else), they probably
felt like the toddler or the moppet who wakes up Christmas morning and finds
a red stocking stuffed with onions, which is the destiny of those who wind up
on Santa’s “naughty” list. To be sure,
Donald Trump did offer the Senators a helping hand, of sorts, but over
another of his one hundred and three minute maskless tirades, practically all
of the President’s venom was directed at Georgia’s Republican Governor, Brian
Kemp, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State… all of whom turned down his
demand that, despite three recounts as proved that Joseph Biden had won the
state and the Presidency, if not by much. The Senators did gain more popular
votes than their opponents… Rev. David Warnock, pastor of Martin Luther
King’s old stomin’ grounds, the Ebenezer Baptist
Church finished second in a so-called “jungle primary” behind Loeffler (appointed by Kemp to fill the seat vacated by a
suddenly retiring Johnny Isaakson) but ahead of
Rep. David Collins, handpicked by Donald Trump as a slapdown
against Kemp – formerly one of his strongest supporters. The viciousness of the two Republican
campaigns against one another… giving Warnock a free pass… undoubtedly
heightened the hostility between Trump and Kemp and may well have contributed
to the failure of Loeffler to win a majority
against an obscure black challenger with no political experience. Perdue, who won his seat in 2014, fared
slightly better against Jon Ossoff, a self-described
investigative journalist and perennial candidate but also fell short of the
necessary fifty percent… the state’s tiny Libertarian party eking out enough
votes to throw Perdue to the voters for a second time and Loeffler
for a third. Control of the Senate being on the
line, Djonald Unhorsed swallowed his pride and
embraced Loeffler so enthusiastically, one might
well have thought he’d supported her all along. Added to the facts in the case were Perdue…
a dogged and obedient loyalist to Team Trump and the putative control of the
Senate (currently standing at 50 to 48 for the Grand Old Party, but with a
new Vice President Kamala Harris poised to break any 50-50 deadlock, the
importance of these races became paramount. Georgia’s week under the sun (and, at
times, the rain) commenced a week ago with President Trump (now raking in 170
million for his war chest earmarked to whatever war he wished to start)
counting off the days until his Atlanta rally on his fingers (thumb, pinkie,
middle… one… two… three!) , announced that he would run for President in 2024
(a perhaps unintentional signal that he was starting to recognize his defeat)
and do so at a counter-Inaugural Super Spreader White House party on January
20th, hoping to steal a little of the victor’s thunder… or, at
least, leave behind a mess that the harried WH staff would be days in
cleaning up. Might he even piss on President and
Jill’s bed, forcing them to spend their first night on a couch? All options remained open. Meanwhile in a flash-froze, frosty
Atlanta, Secretary of State Gabriel Stieling
continued whining about the mean tweets he was receiving from MAGAstards, predicting somebody would be killed and
appealing to the Pubs’ two berunoffed Senators to
tone down the rhetoric and to Djonald Undaunted to
“be the better man.” Responding to
contentions that attending said Counter-I/SS bash, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany replied: “if you can loot, burn down buildings,
you can attend a Christmas Party.” The first rumblings of a campaign to
persuade Peach State Republicans to boycott the runoff to show support for
the President began rumbling. That
would strike fear into the soft and mushy hearts of those liberal, Socialist
Democrats! Angry with the Justice Department’s
insolence and helplessness, POTUS floated the possibility of firing BilBarr the Barbarian… suddenly demoted to that Viking
with the inverted tin funnel on his head from “Hagar the Horrible” and
replacing them with… whom? Not one of
those nasty New York prosecutors deposing Ivanka
over some fishy ledger lines from the 2017 Inauguration, nor those fools and putzes in Wisconsin who threw out another of Rudy’s
lawsuits. Maybe the newly pardoned
General Flynn, who was roaming the wastelands calling upon Trump to declare
martial law and nullify not just a few states, but the entire election. He might or might not have been asked to
join Ex-Presidents Clinton, Bush Two and that Kenyan to take a shot of the
upcoming vaccine on live television, but he was too busy poring over his list
of pre-emptive pardons for cronies (whether they wanted to be pre-emptively
pardoned, with its criminal implications or not). On the positive side, his slush fund of
“legal defense” monies swelled to 200 million. Then, as newsthing
Major Garrett opined that “when you see Bill Barr and Lindsay Graham walking
away from you, you’re in trouble”, Peach State followers of lawyer Lon Wood
were finishing up on painting their Stop the Steal; Boycott the Runoff signs
and the hippie Marxists in Congress voted to legalize pot, Trump hopped Air
Force One and flew off to Georgia… not the heavily populated (and somewhat
ethnically hostile) Atlanta, but to Valdosta – home of what connoisseurs
deemed the best damn onions in the world – no matter that they are actually
named for the nearby little town of Vidalia.. (See Attachment Three for the whole
pail of grits n’ gravy, thanks to Rev Transcripts) Safely back in his palace… from which
he would not be evicted until nearly three weeks after the poor suckers who
lost their jobs in the plague and couldn’t make the rent or mortgage levies
as Stim Two wrangling dithered on… Djonald waxed
psychic and assured a nation trembling with fear and fever that “vaccines
were on their way; safe and beautiful vaccines.” (This would turn out to be a lie, but while
that insect, Gabriel Sterling was standing over a pile of chopped onions,
decrying the “hot mess” and weeping that the President was “whipping up the
mob into a frenzy,” and that State legislatures should not overturn the
decision of the people.) And then, to top the hot mess sundae
with a few sprinkles of plague droplets, Rudy G. got it. (The plague, not the picture.) And then there was more business to
be had – namely, a one hour debate between Loeffler
and Warnock on Sunday followed by a sham debate… Ossoff
entered the arena, Perdue ran away, thus leaving the Democrat alone on the
podium beside an empty mike. Perhaps it would have been more
interesting if the challenger had brought in a chicken… Perdue, chickens,
see?... that had been trained to squawk or cluck whenever Jon-boy brought up
the incumbent’s using confidential plague information to buy and stll stocks. But
he didn’t. The Loeffler-Warnock
debate was far from edifying. Warnock
also noted the incumbent’s fishy stock and banking deals in the Cayman
Islands and her flirtations with Q-Anon; Kelly linked the preacherman
to Castro, BLM and Jeremiah Wright (remember?), and employed the term
“radical liberal Rafael Warnock” fourteen times. As the Republican commercials keep
reiterating: “This election comes down to Them versus Us.” Post-rally and post-debate Georgia
certified (or re- re- certified) the November election on Monday and Gov.
Kemp announced so yesterday, weeping crocodile tears about having to do his
Constitutional duty even at the expense of his own party. It must have been all of those Valdosta (or
Vidalia) onions that caused the tears to flow – Kemp, his Lt. Governor Geoff
Duncan, Sec. Raffensperber and elections official Stirling all posed nobly and mouthed platitudes to the effect
that the well-being of the State was more important than partisan advantage. Republicans in the House and Senate
almost exclusively concurred – it may not have been that there were so
excited with their ticket that they feared the Wrath of a President who, even
in defeat, would be able to handpick primary challengers to either defeat the
recalcitrant Republicans or cripple them with third-party runs as would suck
votes from their campaigns – no matter that this would lead to a Democratic
sweep of potentially historic and catastrophic proportions in 2022. ·
The failing New York Times noted that Loeffler
had “declined to say that President Trump had lost the
election”, arguing instead that the president had “every legal recourse
available” to pursue his baseless assertion that the vote in Georgia was
rigged against him. Ms. Loeffler, whose runoff race is one of two in Georgia that
will determine control of the Senate on Jan. 5, has emerged as a staunch
defender of Mr. Trump. She used the debate to label her Democratic opponent,
the Rev. Raphael Warnock, as a “radical liberal” more than a dozen times over
the course of an hour. Mr.
Warnock criticized Ms. Loeffler, one of the richest
members of the Senate, for making a large number of stock trades after she
attended a briefing on the coronavirus in January. Ms. Loeffler
did not answer directly when asked whether members of Congress should be
barred from trading stocks. “Look,
what’s at stake here in this election is the American dream,” Ms. Loeffler said, calling the question of her stock trades
“a left-wing media lie.” She added, “This is an attack on every single
Georgian who gets up every day to work hard to provide a better life for
their family.” See
transcripts of the Loeffler/Warnock debate and Ossoff/Perdue non debate as Attachments 4 and 4. A number of Georgia Republicans took
the extraordinary step on Sunday and Monday of publicly pleading with
President Donald Trump to stop claiming that some sort of massive election
fraud enabled President-elect Joe Biden to beat him in their state, noted the
liberal Vox. Trump wasted no time indicating he’s
not listening. “What’s wrong with this guy?” Trump
asked, referring to Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Twitter Monday. The question followed a suggestion
that Kemp is somehow involved in a conspiracy to keep him out of the White
House, by refusing to match ballot signatures with state records to ensure
their validity. The trouble is, that’s something election officials in
Georgia have already done. Nevertheless Trump added “What’s he hiding?” But even solid, stolid Republican
allies like Forbes and the Wall Street Journal tut-tutted at the
President. Despite refusing to concede
an election he lost
, Forbes wrote, and making unfounded claims the election was stolen,
Trump claimed he would step aside graciously if he believed he lost. “If I
lost, I'd be a very gracious loser. If I lost, I would say 'I lost,’” he
said, adding that he would “go to Florida and I’d take it easy.” Even the
loyal G.O.P. mouthpiece National Review gooped its
way through Trump’s increasingly lonesome legal roads, saying he “failed to
produce evidence of fraud on a massive enough scale to change the election
result. The campaign and its supporters have lost a slew of legal challenges
in Georgia and other battleground states seeking to overturn the former vice
president’s victory. Georgia’s results were certified last month.” An
unkinder, ungentler CNN called Trump un-American. The leftish Guardian U.K. mocked Djonald’s speech, citing a number of “bizarre and
incoherent ad libs” throughout his address, at one point professing: “I like
cucumbers”. At another
point he boasted about non-existent “hydrosonic”
missiles. “Hypersonic
missiles. We have hypersonic and hydrosonic. You
know what hydrosonic is? Water,” he said. |
12/9/20…
13,704.94 12/2/20…
13,682.73 6/27/13…
15,000.00 |
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Let’s try something different this week – setting Messr. deFoe
and Monsieur Camus aside on the occasion of the President emerging from his
hibernation and taking his case directly to the mob… er,
voters… with the critical Georgia runoff elections (sort-of) nearing. Attached to the daily developments are a
few pertinent phrases from old songs about Georgia, (We reprint the whole of the lyrics as
Attachment Two) |
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Time (the magazine) may have called 2020
the worst year in history, but last week was hardly the worst week ever, although
the Social Indices were disappointing, sometimes contemptible. A slight rise in the Dow and a slight dropoff in unemployment turned the Index green – howsoever
unsettled and ominous the economic and political outlook might be, and how
“dire” national and worldwide health becomes.
It seems the Thanksgiving surge is trump-ing
the vaccine potential… and the news that our American President told the Pfizer
Pfolk in Belgium to sell their pills and shots
elsewhere took root. Congrats to the two
British vaccine pioneers… Mrs. Keenan and Mr. Shakespeare and good wishes
towards the medical mavens who will be meeting this week to determine whether
Americans can get vaccinated (even though there’s only enough lying around to
protect a million or so… and the likelihood of corruption is, to use some of
the favourite words of the mass media,) “grim”. Or, maybe, “dire”.
THE DON JONES INDEX
CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000
(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)
See a further explanation of categories here…
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ECONOMIC INDICES (60%) |
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DON JONES’ PERSONAL
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BACK
See further indicators at The Economist – HERE!
ATTACHMENT ONE – from RCP
Polling Data
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Poll |
Date |
Sample |
MoE |
Perdue (R) |
Ossoff (D) |
Spread |
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RCP Average |
11/8 - 12/3 |
-- |
-- |
48.5 |
48.3 |
Perdue +0.2 |
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12/1 - 12/3 |
1083 LV |
2.9 |
47 |
48 |
Ossoff +1 |
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11/27 - 11/30 |
583 LV |
5.2 |
48 |
50 |
Ossoff +2 |
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11/16 - 11/16 |
800 LV |
3.5 |
49 |
49 |
Tie |
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11/8 - 11/9 |
1450 LV |
2.6 |
50 |
46 |
Perdue +4 |
Polling Data
|
Poll |
Date |
Sample |
MoE |
Warnock (D) |
Loeffler (R) |
Spread |
|
RCP Average |
11/8 - 12/3 |
-- |
-- |
48.5 |
48.0 |
Warnock +0.5 |
|
12/1 - 12/3 |
1083 LV |
2.9 |
45 |
50 |
Loeffler +5 |
|
|
11/27 - 11/30 |
583 LV |
5.2 |
52 |
45 |
Warnock +7 |
|
|
11/16 - 11/16 |
800 LV |
3.5 |
49 |
48 |
Warnock +1 |
|
|
11/8 - 11/9 |
1450 LV |
2.6 |
48 |
49 |
Loeffler +1 |
ATTACHMENT TWO – from the songwriters and performers
Here’s the full lyrics to the Lesson
and the transcripts as depicted that crazy week in Georgia, with control of the
Senate hanging in the balance…
Georgia
on my Mind - Ray Charles
Georgia, Georgia,
The whole day through
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind
(Georgia on my mind)
I'm say Georgia
Georgia
A song of you
(A song of you)
Comes as sweet and clear
As moonlight through the pines
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you
I said Georgia,
Ooh Georgia, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you
Georgia,
Georgia,
No peace, no peace I find
Just this old, sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind
I said just an old sweet song,
Keeps Georgia on my mind
Songwriter –
Hoagy Carmichael
Oh Atlanta –
Little Feat
hey got a place down Kentucky
Right down near Ohio
Where you can watch the planes at night
People line up to watch each flight
I said watchin' them planes
I wish I was on one
I'm sittin' here thinkin' 'bout my red head dream
If I could only see her tonight
Oh Atlanta, oh Atlanta!
I said yeah! yeah! yeah! Atlanta, got to get back to you
Well you can drop me off on Peachtree
I got to feel that Georgia sun
And the women there in Atlanta
They make you awfully glad you come
I said watchin' them planes
I wish I was on one
I'm sittin' here thinking 'bout my
crazy dream
If I could only be there tonight
Oh Atlanta, oh Atlanta!
I said yeah! yeah! yeah! Atlanta, got to get back to you
We make a day and how just you and me
But the music plays all night
They got the boogie band blowin'
that's bound for hell
And when they get to movin' they
never stop
You just keep on playin' that down
home beat
You just keep on layin' it down hot
I wish I was on one
I'm sittin' here thinkin' 'bout my red haired dream
If I could only see her tonight
Oh Atlanta, oh Atlanta!
I said yeah! yeah! yeah! Atlanta, got to get back to you
Songwriter Mick Ralphs
Night the
Lights Went Out in Georgia – Vicki Lawrence
He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he thought he'd stop
At Web's and have him a drink 'fore he went home to her
Andy Wo-Lo said, "Hello"
He said, "Hi, what's new?"
And Wo said, "Sit down, I got some bad news
that's gonna hurt"
Said, "I'm your best friend and you know that's
right
But your young bride ain't home tonight
Since you've been gone, she's been seeing that Amos boy, Seth"
Now he got mad and he saw red
Andy said, "Boy, don't you lose your head
'Cause to tell you the truth, I've been with her myself"
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
Andy got scared and left the bar
Walking on home 'cause he didn't live far, you see
Andy didn't have many friends and he just lost him one
Brother thought his wife must have left town
So he went home and finally found
The only thing Daddy had left him, and that was a gun
He went off to Andy's house
Slipping through the backwoods quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door
And he saw Andy lying on the floor
In a puddle of blood, and he started to shake
The Georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot, just to flag 'em down
A big-bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said
"Why'd you do it?"
The judge said "guilty" on a make-believe
trial
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said, "Supper's waiting at home and I got to get to it"
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
Well, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy's house and back that night were mine
And his cheating wife had never left town
That's one body that'll never be found
You see little sister don't miss when she aims her gun
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That's the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don't trust your soul to no backwoods Southern lawyer
'Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands
Songwriters:
Russell Robert L. Bobby
Rainy Night
in Georgia – Brook Benton
Hoverin' by my suitcase
Tryin' to find a warm place
to spend the night
Heavy rain's fallin'
Seems I hear your voice callin' "it's all
right"
A rainy night in Georgia
A rainy night in Georgia
Lord, I believe it's rainin' all over the world
I feel like it's rainin' all over the world
Neon signs a-flashin'
Taxicabs and buses passin' through the night
A distant moanin' of a train
Seems to play a sad refrain to the night
But it's a rainy night in Georgia
Such a rainy night in Georgia
Lord, I believe it's rainin' all over the world
I feel like it's rainin' all over the world
How many times I wondered
It still comes out the same
No matter how you look at it or think of it
It's life and you just got to play the game
Find me a place in a box car
So I take my guitar to pass some time
Late at night when it's hard to rest
I hold your picture to my chest and I feel fine, I feel fine
But it's a rainy night in Georgia
Baby, it's a rainy night in Georgia
Lord, I believe it's rainin' all over the world
Kinda lonely now and it's rainin' all over the world
Rainin', rainin' rainin', rainin', rainin' rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin'
Songwriters:
Tony White
Talk About
Georgia – Jason Aldean
I spent a lot of time underneath the lights down in
San Antone
Yeah, I make good memories just about everywhere I go
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Sometimes you gotta put it all behind ya
But there's one thing that I just can't get off my mind
When I talk about Georgia
It's the color in your eyes of the summertime shinin'
on you
I remember every mile, yeah, you drove me wild
Baby, and the way it felt like nothing else
It's true, girl, I think about you
When I talk about Georgia
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, my buddies still talk about that Daytona trip
Many years fly by, damn, it's hard to remember it
Fast-lane through Oklahoma
Tequila nights in California
But there's just one goodbye that gets me every time
When I talk about Georgia
It's the color in your eyes of the summertime shinin'
on you
I remember every mile, yeah, you drove me wild
Baby, and the way it felt like nothing else
It's true, girl, I think about you
When I talk about Georgia
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, you're right here, you come back
Baby, just like that
When I talk about Georgia
It's the color in your eyes of the summertime shinin'
on you
I remember every mile, yeah, you drove me wild
Baby, and the way it felt like nothing else
It's true, girl, I think about you
When I talk about Georgia
Yeah, when I talk about Georgia
Yeah, yeah
Songwriters:
Kurt Michael Allison / Michael Tyler Spragg / Tully
Kennedy
Midnight
Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight
L.A. proved too much for the man
(Too much for the man, he couldn't make it)
So he's leavin' the life he's come to know, ooh
(He said he's goin')
He said he's goin' back to find
(Goin' back to find)
Ooh ooh ooh, what's left of
his world
The world he left behind
Not so long ago
He's leavin' (leavin')
On that midnight train to Georgia
(Leavin' on the midnight train)
Yeah, said he's goin' back
(Goin' back to find)
To a simpler place in time
(Whenever he takes that ride) oh yes he is
(Guess who's gonna be right by his side)
And I'll be with him (I know you will)
On that midnight train to Georgia
(Leavin' on the midnight train to Georgia)
I'd rather live in his world (live in his world)
Than live without him in mine
(Her world is his, his and hers alone)
He kept dreamin' (dreamin')
Ooh, that someday he'd be a star
(A superstar, but he didn't get far)
But he sure found out the hard way
That dreams don't always come true
(Dreams don't always come true) oh no
(Uh uh) uh uh (no, uh uh)
So he pawned all his hopes (ooh ooh ooh)
And he even sold his old car (woo woo woo)
Bought a one way ticket back
To the life he once knew
Oh, yes, he did
He said he would
Oh, oh, he's leavin' (leavin')
On that midnight train to Georgia
(Leavin' on the midnight train)
Yeah, said he's goin' back to find
(Goin' back to find)
Ooh, a simpler place in time
(Whenever he takes that ride) ooh
(Guess who's gonna be right by his side)
And I'm gonna be with him (I know you will)
On that midnight train to Georgia
(Leavin' on the midnight train to Georgia)
I'd rather live in his world (live in his world)
Than live without him in mine
(Her world is his, his and hers alone)
Oh, he's leavin' (leavin')
On the midnight train to Georgia
(Leavin' on the midnight train)
Yeah, ooh, y'all
Said he's goin' back to find
(Goin' back to find)
Ooh, a simpler place in time
(Whenever he takes that ride) ooh
(Guess who's gonna be right by his side)
And I've got to be with him (I know you will)
On that midnight train to Georgia
(Leavin' on the midnight train to Georgia, ooh ooh)
I'd rather live in his world (live in his world)
Than live without him in mine
(Her world is his, his and hers alone)
gonna board
The midnight train to ride
For love (for love) gonna board (gonna
board)
Gotta board the midnight train to go
For love (for love) gonna board (gonna board)
The midnight train to go
My world (for love), his world (gonna board)
Our world (the midnight train to go) now I'm his alone
My world (for love), his world (gonna board)
Our world (the midnight train to go) now I'm his alone
I've got to go (for love), I've got to go (gonna board)
I've got to go (the midnight train to go) hey
I've got to go (for love), I've got to go (gonna board)
(The midnight train to go)
My world (for love), his world (gonna board)
My man (the midnight train to go) his girl
I've got to go (for love), I've got to go (gonna board)
(The midnight train to go) I've got to go
My world (for love), his world (gonna board)
Our world
Songwriter:
James D. Weatherly
Dock of the
bay - Otis Redding
Sittin' in the mornin'
sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin'
come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah
]
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm just sittin'
on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I've had nothing to live for
And look like nothin's gonna
come my way
So I'm just gonna sit on
the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm sittin'
on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes
Sittin' here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home
Now, I'm just gonna sit
at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin'
on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
[Outro]
*Whistling*
Songwriters:
Otis Redding and Steve Cropper
Chattahoochee
– Alan Jackson
Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee
It gets hotter than a hoochie
coochie
We laid rubber on the Georgia asphalt
We got a little crazy but we never got caught
Down by the river on a Friday night
A pyramid of cans in the pale moonlight
Talking 'bout cars and dreaming 'bout women
Never had a plan just a livin' for the minute
Yeah way down yonder on the Chattahoochee
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me
But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was
A lot about livin' and a little 'bout love
Well we fogged up the windows in my old Chevy
I was willing but she wasn't ready
So I settled for a burger and a grape snow cone
Dropped her off early but I didn't go home
Down by the river on a Friday night
A pyramid of cans in the pale moonlight
Talking 'bout cars and dreaming 'bout women
Never had a plan just a livin' for the minute
Yeah way down yonder on the Chattahoochee
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me
But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was
A lot about livin' and a little 'bout love
Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahochee
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me
But I learned how to swim and I learned who I was
A lot about livin' and a little 'bout love.
A lot about livin' and a
little 'bout love.
Songwriters:
Jim Mcbride / Alan Jackson
And a bonus from Charlie Daniels…
The Devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin' for a soul to steal
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
And he was willin' to make a deal
When he came across this young man
Sawin' on a fiddle and playin'
it hot
And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump
And said, "Boy, let me tell you what"
"I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a
fiddle player, too
And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you
Now you play pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due
I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul
'Cause I think I'm better than you"
The boy said, "My name's Johnny, and it
might be a sin
But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret
'Cause I am the best that's ever has been
Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your
fiddle hard
'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia and the Devil
deals the cards
And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold
But if you lose, the devil gets your soul
The Devil opened up his case and he said,
"I'll start this show"
And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow
And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made a
evil hiss
And a band of demons joined in, and it sounded somethin'
like this
When the Devil finished
Johnny said, "Well, you're pretty good ol' son
But sit down in that chair right there
And let me show you how it's done"
"Fire on the Mountain", run, boys,
run
The Devil's in the house of the risin' sun
Chicken in the bread pan pickin' out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no
The Devil bowed his head because he knew that
he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet
Johnny said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna
try again
I done told you once, you son of a bitch
I'm the best that's ever been" he played
"Fire on the Mountain", run, boys,
run
The Devil's in the house of the risin' sun
The chicken in the bread pan pickin' out dough
Granny, will your dog bite? No, child, no
Songwriters: Charles Fred Hayward / Charlie
Daniels / William J. Digregorio / Fred Edwards /
James W. Marshall / John Crain
ATTACHMENT THREE – from Rev transcripts
Donald Trump Georgia Rally Transcript Before Senate Runoff Elections 12/5/20
Melania Trump: (01:30)
Hello, Georgia.
Audience: (01:31)
USA. USA. USA. USA.
Melania Trump: (02:55)
It is wonderful to be here with you tonight. Thank you for coming out and
supporting us. President Trump continues to fight for you every single day. Do
not let your voices be silenced. We must keep our seats in the Senate. It is
more important than ever that your exercise your rights as an American citizen
and vote. Under my husband’s leadership, our borders are safer global, terrorists
have been destroyed, and historic peace deals in the Middle East have been
made. Our nation is respected again and our allies are now doing their fair
share globally. President Trump has brought jobs back to the American people.
And opportunities for women have expanded in our workforce. Our economy has
soared and unemployment has shrunk. When a global pandemic hit the United
States last January, my husband put the American peoples first. And now under
this administration and because of our amazing medical capabilities and
resources, we are closer than ever to vaccinate that will save millions of
lives. Let your voices be heard, Georgia.
Melania Trump: (04:54)
Get out and vote for Senator Loeffler and Senator
Perdue. Thank you. And God bless you and your families. It is now my pleasure to
welcome the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
Donald Trump: (05:35)
Thank you.
Audience: (05:35)
Four more years. Four more years. Four more years. Four more years. Four more
years.
Donald Trump: (05:35)
Thank you. A very popular First Lady, I have to admit. Thank you very much and
thank you, Melania. And I want to say, hello,
Georgia. We did a great job. You know we won Georgia, just so you understand.
And we won Florida and we won a lot of places.
Audience: (06:06)
We love you. We love you. We love you.
Donald Trump: (06:08)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Audience: (06:24)
We love you. We love you. We love you.
Donald Trump: (06:24)
Thank you.
Audience: (06:24)
We love you. We love you. We love you. We love you.
Donald Trump: (06:24)
Well, thank you very much. Thank you. No, we won a lot of places. We won
Florida. We won Ohio. Big, big. We won them big. Remember we were going to lose
Florida they said. We were five down in Florida. We won by a lot. We were way
down in Ohio and we won by a lot. I think they say that if you win Florida and
if you win Ohio in history, you’ve never lost an election. This has got to be a
first time. But the truth is they were right, we’ve never lost that election.
We’re winning this election. And I will say, we’re fighting very hard for this
state. When you look at all of the corruption and all of the problems having to
do with this election, all I can do is campaign and then I wait for the
numbers. But when the numbers come out of ceilings and come out of leather
bags, you start to say, “What’s going on?” But I want to just tell you that I
love this state. I love the people in this state and I’m thrilled to be back in
magnificent Georgia with thousands of proud, hardworking American patriots.
Donald Trump: (07:33)
Let me begin by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Remember the word.
Remember. We started five years ago, and I said you’re going to be saying
Christmas again. And we say it proudly again, although there’ll be trying to
take that word again out of the vocabulary. We’re not going to let them do
that. I also want to express our profound condolences to the family of Harrison
Deal, a young and brilliant campaign staffer for Senator Loeffler,
who tragically died in a terrible car accident yesterday. You know about it. He
was an incredible magnificent young man. And I just want to say our prayers are
with his friends and loved ones and we will keep his memory in our hearts. And
he’s looking down right now and he’s very proud of Kelly and David. He’s very
proud of all of us. So I just want to express my best wishes to the family and
everybody. Thank you. Thank you, Kelly. And let me also express our warmest best
wishes and love to all of those people and families suffering from the COVID
pandemic. Vaccines are on their way at a level that nobody ever thought
possible. It would have taken another administration five years. It took us
seven months and they’re starting next week and we’re going to start
vaccinating. And a lot of people already are vaccinated. It’s called you have …
You caught it and you’re immune. I hope it’s true. They say that before I had
it, they said if you catch it, you’re immune for life. Once I got it, they
said, if you catch it, you’re immune for four months. Right.
Donald Trump: (09:13)
But they’re on their way, the vaccines and they’re great vaccines and safe, and
brilliant actually to think of it, what we’ve done in such a short period of
time. Nobody thought. They call it, even some of the enemies call it a medical
miracle what we’ve done. And we also have great therapeutics and they’re
already here and I can testify to that fact. I’ll tell you what, some
incredible work has been done over the last seven months. And we should always
get credit for that. Don’t let anyone ever take it away from us.
Donald Trump: (09:45)
We’re gathered here tonight to ensure … A very important word, ensure because
these are two great, great people that I know so well and respected by
everybody in Washington and beyond, that David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler win the most important congressional runoff,
probably in American history. I really believe that. I think it’s in American …
There’s never been a time like this, where you have two at one time, at least
you have two beauties. And you know what, you also have two beauties running
against them, but beauty in a different way, there are two beauties.
Donald Trump: (10:21)
But there’s never been a case where a state has had this prominence on Senate
races because they’re never together. And this is something that’s very
important and you have to get out and you have to vote. You have to make sure
you have every vote counted. Every one has to count. You got to make sure they
don’t throw away any ballots. You got to make sure that when they collect the
ballots and they start bragging about how many ballots they already have, you
got to make sure your secretary of state knows what the hell he’s doing. And
you got to make sure your governor gets a lot tougher than he’s been. He’s got
to get a lot tougher. Because at stake in this election is control of the US
Senate and that really means control of this country. The voters of Georgia
will determine which party runs every committee, writes every piece of
legislation, controls every single taxpayer dollar.
Donald Trump: (11:18)
Very simply, you will decide whether your children will grow up in a socialist
country or whether they will grow up in a free country. And I will tell you
this, socialist is just the beginning for these people. These people want to go
further than socialism. They want to go into a communistic form of government.
I have no doubt about it. Somehow that doesn’t suit Georgia too well. That
doesn’t work too well I think, Kelly, in Georgia, does it?
Donald Trump: (11:49)
David and Kelly are running against radical Jon Ossoff
and Raphael Warnock. Ossoff and Warnock are the two
most extreme, far-left liberal Senate candidates in the history of our country,
and you got them both at one time. How did that happen? I think you both got
lucky, but we’ll see, right? We’ll see. You must go vote and vote early
starting December 14th. You have to do it. They cheated and they rigged our
presidential election, but we will still win it. We will still win it. We’ll
still win it. And they’re going to try and rig this election too.
Audience: (12:31)
Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal.
Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal.
Stop the steal. Stop the steal.
Donald Trump: (12:54)
No, we continue to fight. We’ve had some great moments. We just need somebody
with courage to do what they have to do because everyone knows it’s wrong. We
need somebody with courage, somebody that makes decisions, then we’ll be going
up to the Supreme Court very shortly. And we really, if we have-
Audience: (13:10)
Fight. Fight. Fight.
Donald Trump: (13:17)
If we have courage and wisdom, I think, you know what the answer’s going to be
because you can’t let people get away with what they got away with. Think of
it, with over 74 million votes, over, think of that, more than … I got more
votes than any sitting president in history. 11 million more votes than we got
in 2016. And we thought that if we could get 68 million, 67 million that would
be the end. All of our great, brilliant geniuses said you’d win if you get 67
or 68. It’s over. We got 74 million-plus and they’re trying to convince us that
we lost. We didn’t lose. They found a lot of ballots to be nice about it. And
they got rid of some too. The 74, let me tell you, the 74 could have been even
higher.
Donald Trump: (14:10)
As the great pollster, John McLaughlin, who was really a great pollster, one of
the most highly respected, he said, “There’s no way this could have happened
other than the obvious cheating or a rigged election. There’s no way it could
have happened.” It’s interesting, I wrote this out and I had just a few of the
facts, which I think … Because I want to get onto the presidentials.
I want to stay on presidential, but I got to get to these two because they’re
incredible. But listen to this. These are the facts. And each fact is
irrefutable and it means win. President Trump received, done by one of the most
brilliant political people, President Trump received more votes than any
previous incumbent president in history. And we lost. And we lost. So, we
received more votes than anybody in history, any incumbent in history, and we
lost, supposedly. We didn’t lose. You’re going to see that. No incumbent who
received 75% of the total primary vote lost reelection in the history of our
country. President Trump received 94, not 74. 94, which is one of the highest
in history.
Donald Trump: (15:21)
In fact, President Trump is the only one of five incumbents since 1912 to receive
more than 90% of the primary vote. And again, anybody received over 75%, they
won. We got 94%. President Trump set a record for the most primary votes ever
received by an incumbent, ever. And nobody that’s received all of the primary
votes, nobody’s received at a much lesser level than what we, they always won.
But we didn’t according to what they say. It’s rigged. It’s a fixed deal.
Nationally, initial numbers show that 26% of President Trump’s voting share
came from nonwhite voters. The highest percentage for a GOP presidential
candidate since 1960. That’s a long time ago. President Trump won … Think of
this one. President Trump won 18 of 19 bellwether counties. You know what a
bellwether county is, it’s a big deal. So I won 18 of 19, a record, never
happened. That between 1980 and 2016 voted for the eventual president in every
single election, and before that, it was almost every election. And we won a
record 18 of 19. Never lost. Nobody’s ever lost with anything like that.
Donald Trump: (16:48)
Biden did not demonstrate coattails for the downballot
races, had no coattails. I’m shocked to hear that. In fact, he got 80 million
votes. But what he made a Thanksgiving day speech on
the internet, they say he had less than a thousand people. How do you have 80
million votes and you have a thousand people? Now how do you have 80 million
votes and you have less than a thousand people?
Donald Trump: (17:12)
With Republicans maintaining control … So here’s what happened. So Biden didn’t
demonstrate coattails downballot races, but with
Republicans maintaining control, first time this has ever happened, control of
the Senate, winning all 27 toss-up races in the House. Kevin McCarthy, great
job. Mitch, great job. Winning all 27 toss-up races. And now, think of it. We
didn’t lose a seat in the House. Think of this. The first time that anybody, I
think in history, we didn’t lose one seat. Normally, you lose two, three, five,
and you replay. We lost nobody sitting in Congress. I worked hard in the House,
with Kevin McCarthy, not losing a single legislative chamber and making big
gains at the state level and holding onto the Senate. I mean, look at what’s
happened. We better hold onto the Senate, you two. And there’s never been numbers
like that where a president even came close to losing, but they say we lost.
The only way is they stuffed the ballot boxes.
Donald Trump: (18:14)
President Trump won. President Trump won as we said both in Florida and then
Ohio. And by the way, won by a lot. Remember the fake polls where they said
he’s down by four in Florida, and I won by a lot. He’s down by two in Ohio, and
we won. I think we got eight or nine or something, up. But nobody’s ever done
that. Those two very powerful, big, important states. And the beauty is that we
also won Georgia, and that was good. We won South Carolina and we won Iowa.
Remember, we’re not going to win an Iowa they said. We’re not going to win. I
think the farmers like Trump a lot, right? Well, we want an Iowa by a lot. We
won in Iowa by close to record numbers. I think I have the record. And we won
all over the place.
Donald Trump: (19:06)
And many of these swing states, it’s a very interesting statistic. President
Obama beat Biden all over the country, except in some of the swing states where
Biden beat him badly. How does that work? And they say it’s statistically
impossible. He beat crooked Hillary. Think of this. He beat crooked Hillary in
the swing states, but she beat him everywhere else. Let me tell you, this
election was rigged and we can’t let it happen to two of the greatest, most
respected people in Washington. We can’t let it happen again. Can’t let it
happen.
Audience: (19:48)
Stop the steal. Stop the steal.
Donald Trump: (19:48)
Can’t let it happen. Can’t let it happen.
Audience: (19:50)
Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal. Stop the steal.
Stop the steal.
Donald Trump: (19:58)
Your governor could stop it very easily if he knew what the hell he was doing.
He could stop it very easily. Hundreds of thousands of illegal votes were cast
in each state. Far from … I mean, if you look at this, hundreds of thousands
more than we needed were cast in every state we’re talking about, not only
here, but Michigan, Pennsylvania. How about Pennsylvania where they throw the
poll Watchers out? They threw them out. They literally threw them out. And they
did it here too, by the way. But we caught them cold and have numerous cases
pending. And so far we haven’t been able to find the people with the courage to
do the right thing. And that is true in Georgia, certainly. But we’re going to
hit those people and they’re going to go down in history as great people.
They’re going to go down because everyone knows what took place.
Donald Trump: (20:47)
But we’re going to talk about the presidential election a little bit later
because we have a big senatorial race going on in Georgia and we are watching
Democrats very, very closely. And remember this, we had this massive race all
over the country, so they could cheat in Georgia and people aren’t really
watching it like they should. And again, all I can do is say I’m running, win,
and then do a good job as president. That’s all. I don’t run the elections. I
don’t run to see if people are walking in with suitcases and putting them under
a table with a black robe around it. I don’t do that. That’s up to your
government here. And for whatever reason, your secretary of state and your
governor are afraid of Stacey Abrams. They’re afraid of her.
Donald Trump: (21:37)
So we know the Democrats are planning to cheat and we can’t let them do it
again. And we’re going to pull ours out one way or the other. But we have to be
vigilant because I don’t want these two to work like that I … I thought we were
going to easily win. And then maybe for the first time in a long time, I’d go
take a nice little vacation for about two days and then we’d go back. And
instead, I probably worked harder in the last three weeks than I’ve ever worked
in my life doing this.
Donald Trump: (22:12)
And I’ve become friendly with legislators that I didn’t know four weeks ago and
actually, they’re great people. In fact, in my pocket right here, we have a
couple of them right here. Where’s Burt Jones. Where’s Burt Jones? Burt. Burt,
boy, you’re a young guy. I thought you were young, but not that young. Burt
Jones, I want to thank you, Burt, for being here. You’re friendly with a man
next to you, right? He’s a man of courage. Thank you very much, Burt. I
appreciate everything you’re doing and so does this big crowd. And this is a
big … This is a lot of people. Also, Brandon Beach, Senator Brandon Beach.
Brandon, thank you for everything. We appreciate it. William Liggins. William. Where’s William? Why are you so far away,
William, from them? Oh, I like that group better actually. I agree. And Greg Dolezal, where’s Greg? Greg, thank you very much, Greg. We
appreciate it. Really do. We appreciate it. Great people.
Donald Trump: (23:09)
And we said, have this brought back into your legislature, governor, have it
brought back. Let these people make it. Keep it open, keep it transparent, and
let us have a signature verification. What’s wrong with that? They keep
counting the same votes. I said, “Don’t count votes, look at the signature.
You’re going to find the signatures aren’t what they were two years ago, four
years ago, six years ago.” But are two great Senate
opponents, and these are the two people that fight and they’re going to fight
like … I don’t know if you know this, but one of the people that you’re
fighting, I went against him, Ossoff, four years ago.
He was against a very fine woman, Karen, who was a great woman, and he was leading
by quite a bit and we ended up beating him. He didn’t even live in the
district. He was running for Congress. He didn’t even live in the district. So
we’re going to have the same thing.
Donald Trump: (24:04)
But Ossoff and Warnock will be total pawns of Chuck
Schumer, Crying Chuck. I only see him cry when the cameras are on. But he said,
he did say this, maybe I’m hurting you when I say, he did say this, “If we get
in we’re going to absolutely make Donald Trump’s life miserable.” Can you
believe that? That’s Chuck Schumer. He made the statement. “We’re going to
investigate him.” Oh, those investigations, we’ll go on and on. Well, they’ve
been investigating me since the day we came down on the escalator, which what
turned out to be our great First Lady, we came down to the escalator, right?
Okay. And a spider in our campaign and lots of other things. But Nancy Pelosi,
AOC, Bernie Sanders, and the lunatic radical left, that’s what you’re going to
have.
Donald Trump: (24:56)
As Chuck Schumer said rather infamously, “First we take Georgia, then we take
America.” But they don’t mean to take America in a good sense. They mean bring
it over to things that the people of Georgia don’t want. You’re not going to
like it when they want to take over your farm. “Gee, we own this farm too. We
were here also. We own this farm.” Here’s exactly how they will change America
forever. The radical Democrats, if they get power, they will immediately
abolish the Senate filibuster, allowing them to pass any bill they want and
giving them free rein to ram through the most extreme left-wing agenda ever
conceived while at the same time, destroying our military through a lack of
funding.
Donald Trump: (25:44)
And by the way, tell our senators end Section 230. End Section 230. Put it in.
We put it in. I want it in the defense bill. Put it in because it’s a national
security problem. It’s a big national security. So hopefully, Mitch and the
senators will put it in. But it’s the one chance we have to bring big tech, who
are vicious and violent and untruthful, to bring big tech … It’s the only thing
they fear is that we’re going to end Section 230. So hopefully, we will do it.
It happens to be a politically very popular thing to do, by the way.
Donald Trump: (26:23)
If these people get control, their draconian, military cuts will devastate Fort
Benning, Fort Gordon, and the military families all across Georgia. We would
also like to save the names of the forts if you don’t mind everybody. They have
the right. They put in the Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren clause, where they have
the right to take all the names of our past warriors heroes in some cases, many
cases, some turned out to be heroes in disguise, perhaps, but they want to take
the names off and they have the right to desecrate, to take down, to destroy,
to demolish places in our national parks that we don’t want demolished. So we
have to be very careful of that. We can’t let that happen. They want to put it
in our military bill. Of all people, Elizabeth Warren puts that clause in the
military bill.
Donald Trump: (27:15)
They will impose total open borders so that people can pour into our country
and they will give them free healthcare, free welfare, and the right to vote in
your elections. You won’t ever win another election as a Republic. They even
want to take down the wall. The wall, I won on the wall too. We won on a lot of
things. “Take down the wall,” I heard him say it the other day. “We will take
down the wall.” We have the strongest border we’ve ever had now. We’re almost
finished with the wall. Strongest border, right, Sonny? And we built it despite
… It’s incredible, the effect it’s having. We built it despite, everybody said
no chance. I mean, we had a whole very powerful Democrat party oppose me. And
yesterday, I don’t know if you saw it, the court-
Donald Trump: (28:03)
Oppose me. And yesterday, I don’t know if you saw it, the court just ruled that
the money I took was taken legally. So at least we have a legal wall. The
appeals court. So we took it and we built the wall and we’ll be finished with
it very soon, but it’s had a tremendous impact on illegal immigrants coming
into the country. And by the way, we want people to come into our country, you
see that by the vote I got, but we want people to come in legally and through
merit. Through merit, where they can help us. The radical Democrats will
implement nationwide catch and release. You know that is? You catch a killer, you
catch a rapist and you say, “Oh, thank you very much. Please give us your name.
Oh, come back in three years. We’re going to put you on trial. Oh, Good.” You
never see them by the way. Remember I had that debate with Joe Biden? He said,
“No, they come back.” Yeah, they don’t come back. They don’t come back. No.
They don’t come back. Like, never. Maybe 1%, but I doubt it. That’s the end of
them. You let them loose in our country. I got rid of it. You think that was
easy?
Donald Trump: (29:02)
And install sanctuary cities all across the country, that’s what they want,
freeing criminal aliens and MS-13 gang members, the most vicious people. They
don’t like guns because it’s not painful enough. They like using knives. It’s
true. They don’t like guns, they’d rather cut somebody up. To wreak havoc and
terror upon innocent families. We’ve moved thousands and thousands of MS-13s
the hell out of our country. We moved them back to where they came from. And
some, we put in prison because they’re too dangerous to move back because
they’ll try and figure away. They’re not stupid. They’re vicious, but they’re
not stupid, sort of like the Democrats if you think about.
Donald Trump: (29:43)
They’ll confiscate privately owned firearms and share… What they will do, they
will share everything with themselves, only dangerous equipment. And they will
totally cut up a thing called your second amendment rights. They’ll Make
Washington DC a State and many other places guaranteeing two, four, or six
additional left wing senators. They want to make numerous places States, this
way you have a lot more… Louie, you’re going to have a lot more company in
Congress. You’ll have lots of… You’ll have another 30, 40 congressional people
from places you’ve never even heard of. You’ve never even heard of. Louie Gohmert. The great Louie Gohmert.
Donald Trump: (30:29)
And there’ll be voting against Georgia every time, completely canceling out your
voice in Washington forever like David Perdue. I’ll never forget it. You got
hit by a piece of a hurricane. Remember that? The farmers got hit so hard. And
I went with Sonny and with David or some other great people from Georgia. And I
said, “Is there a way we can pay these people?” They never asked for anything,
and their orchards were wiped out. One of the men said, “This was going to be
the best crop I ever had. I was a week and a half away from finally, after 10,
12 years making some money.” And a week and a half early, he gets hit by the
remnants of that big hurricane from Florida. Great state, great place. But you
got hit. And David, we took 100% care of those people, right? We took 100%
care, yeah, with the help of Sonny Purdue, Secretary of Agriculture. And I felt
so good.
Donald Trump: (31:24)
But I met them. There were 33 of them standing and they were all in the line.
“What do you do?” “I have this?” “What?” It was a tragic… And nobody wanted
anything. They didn’t even want it. They said, “If we could borrow it, if we
could…” They didn’t want it. These are incredible people. They don’t want
anything. They just want a level playing field, but we took care of them.
They’d never forgot it either. It’s very interesting. I still hear from some of
those people.
Donald Trump: (31:47)
The extreme left will pack the Supreme Court with 24 radical Justices. That’s
the last number I heard. I used to hear it was 16, now it’s up to 24. Pretty
soon, you’ll have another Congress. Twenty-four radical justice is instead of
nine justices that we have right now. And they want them to revolve up and down
the court system so that Supreme Court Justices can spend time in other
locations, down the totem pole. They want to hurt the Supreme Court and they
want to hurt it very badly. And if these two don’t get in, or if I don’t get in
and these don’t, we got to get… The best would be all three. Nothing will
happen. All three.
Donald Trump: (32:30)
But they want to destroy the sanctity of the Supreme Court, the importance of
the Supreme Court, the majesty of the Supreme Court. They’ll terminate
religious liberty, cancel free speech, and force you to fund extreme late-term
abortion. And there will be nothing to stop them. If they don’t get in, there’s
going to be nothing to stop them. You have no idea how bad it will be. There
will be nothing. I used to argue with certain people about the filibuster. I
said, look, I don’t like it either, but I do it because I know they are going
to do it. Everybody said, “Oh, they’ll never do it.” They’re doing it. They’ve
already announced they’re going to do it. That means they can do anything they
want.
Donald Trump: (33:16)
And the Republicans, they play a different game. I don’t know, maybe they love
the country more. But they said, “No, no, they’ll never do it.” And I said,
“Well Schumer, he’ll do it the first day he gets in, he’ll do it.” And that’s
exactly what’s happening and he’ll do it. And he will do that to the Supreme
Court, there’s no question. But they look forward to it because you know why? We
put on three… Think of this, three great Justices and we’ll be over 300 federal
judges in the United States, which will be a record. Three hundred, 300. And
they don’t want to wait, they want to do it very quickly. “Let’s just vote and
we’ll take it.” This takes years and years and years to slowly change a court
and perhaps I got a little bit lucky to get three. A lot of presidents have had
none. They’ve never had… They stay on for a long time, they’re young when they
go on and they’re old when they come off.
Donald Trump: (34:15)
But the fact is a lot of presidents, good presidents, great presidents… They
say you can’t be a great president unless you’ve put in Supreme Court Justice.
They say it’s the single most important thing a president can do. And I’m not
sure that’s right, I think military defense, military offense, frankly, is the
most important thing. But it’s certainly one of the most important things you
can do. And the fact that I have more than… I will have by the end, more than
300… First term, think of it. And if we do a second term, which I hope we do,
we could have close to 540.
Donald Trump: (34:55)
But the fact that I had three Supreme Court Justices in the first term is not
making them feel too good. They will unilaterally surrender to China. They’re
already doing it. They’re already doing it. And Hunter made a lot of money in
China. What’s he going to do? Sending our factories and our jobs overseas. They
will raise your taxes. We lowered your taxes. We gave you the greatest tax
decrease, tax cut, in the history of our country and they want to get rid of
that and raise your taxes, and raise your regulations. We cut more regulations
than any president in the history of our country. That’s one of the reasons our
business came back.
Donald Trump: (35:37)
With the pandemic, as bad as it is, it’s horrible. Should have never happened.
China allowed this to happen. Should have never happened. But we went down
less. A lot of people don’t like to talk… Our economy. We went down less and we
went up more than any other country in the world. We went down less because we
had a good foundation. And yesterday again… So now I thought it was 48, it’s
actually 128 times… Can you believe it? We set a new stock market record, but
this one was great because the Dow Jones industrial average over… Think of
this. Over 30,000 for the first time ever over the last couple of weeks. And
yesterday it was 30,200. Can you believe this? And this is during hopefully
what will be… We’re rounding the turn, we’re rounding the corner of the
pandemic. But this is during a pandemic. We broke 30,000. A number that was
unthinkable when I first came.
Donald Trump: (36:34)
When I first came in at around 16,000, the concept of hitting a 30,000 Dow was
not even possible. And we not only hit we… Can you
imagine if we didn’t get hit by this is freak? This total freak that came into
our country, could you imagine if we didn’t get hit? And I of this before,
David, in a way we did this sort of twice. We took it from the time I came in
to the time we got hit and nobody’s blaming us for… Every country, 188 got hit.
Some were totally devastated. I don’t know if they ever recover. But if you
think about it, we had two. We did it the first time, we went up from where I
took it over. Way up, then it went down. Then we had a second. So we really had
two.
Donald Trump: (37:21)
And now we’re going to get money because we want the money. First of all, these
States and cities should open up. They should open up. And we’re working hard
against the Democrats, but we’re working hard to get some money out to the
people because they need it. It’s not their fault that they got hit with
something from China. And you notice the way the Democrats like to say it came
from Italy? No, it came from China. And that’s okay to say it. They like to say
it came from Europe. “No, actually, well specifically came from Italy.” Italy
saying, “What did we do?”
Donald Trump: (37:58)
They’ll wage war on American energy. Absolutely decimating Georgia’s
middle-class. Your bills will go up. Not a huge energy producer, but Texas….
Remember they said, “Trump will lose Texas by a lot.” I said, “Wait a minute.
I’m in favor of energy. I’m the one that built… We have the greatest energy
we’ve ever had. And it all happened this period of time. So you’re telling me,
you’re telling me that I’m going to lose Texas to a guy that’s against
fracking, against energy, against religion, and against guns.” You tell me
that, I end up winning Texas by so much. Somebody said, “We don’t even know how
much.” And we knew that before, but it’s fake news.
Donald Trump: (38:38)
They said Wisconsin. A poll came out. Washington Post, ABC, just before the
election, I’m going to lose Wisconsin by 17 points. I said, “No, I’m going to
win Wisconsin.” Well, actually I won Wisconsin. They’re trying to say he’s a
little down. But I actually won. But that’s called suppression. That’s called a
suppression poll. That’s a poll that’s so devastating, when I asked one of the
pollsters, I said, “Why did they go so far? Why don’t they just say four or
five?” “Because in four years they’re going to lose all respect. They don’t
care. They’ll do anything to win. They’ll do anything to beat you. They don’t
care.” These people are sick. Seventeen points. And we actually won.
Donald Trump: (39:16)
Remember so many of the States? I won every one of them. Every one of these
States. And by the way, the swing States that we’re all fighting over now, I
won them all by a lot. I won them all by a lot. And I have to say, if I lost
I’d be a very gracious loser. If I lost, I would say I lost and I’d go to
Florida, and I’d take it easy, and I’d go around and I’d say, “I did a good
job.” But you can’t ever accept when they steal and rig and rob. You can’t
accept it.
Crowd Chants: (39:54)
Stop the steal.
Donald Trump: (40:09)
Well, the Democrats did try to steal the presidency. They’re trying like hell.
Do you ever notice the fake news? “Today he’s appointing his this, his that.”
Sonny, his Secretary of Agriculture. Sonny. I liked Sonny. We want Sonny. He
was a great governor here for eight years. Right? You would have solved this
problem in about two hours, Sonny. He would have said, “Let the legislature
open. Let the vote… Let us be transparent on signatures.” I think that’s okay.
Donald Trump: (40:44)
But we’re working hard to ensure that it doesn’t happen. And now they’re trying
to steal these two important Senate seats from Georgia. These seats are the
last line of defense to save America and protect all that we have accomplished.
And we’ve accomplished things that no other president has accomplished, no
other administration. And I did it with these two people. I didn’t know Kelly.
When Kelly came in, I didn’t really know what to think. There is nobody that
fought harder for me. And I have to tell you this… Do you mind if me tell you here publicly, is that okay? There is nobody…
David understands this too. She fought. What a trooper. She was so tough and
smart. She even went against Mitt Romney. She didn’t like Mitt Romney too much.
I won’t say what she said, but it was tough. But she is… We call him
Kryptonite. Anything he touches, they lose. But you were so great. And I’ll not
forget it. And David’s been my friend for a long time, for a long, long time.
And there’s nobody in Washington that’s more respected than David Perdue.
There’s nobody. There’s nobody. So we have to keep them.
Donald Trump: (41:58)
If the other side manages to steal both elections, we will have total, one
party, socialist control and everything you care about will be gone. Your whole
philosophy is going to be gone. Joe Biden, Kamala… Kamala [inaudible 00:14:13].
Crying Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, they want to take away your guns. I
never got it. I never got it. That’s one of the reasons I knew. How can you
win? No oil, no guns. No God. Oh, they won. I don’t think so. Okay. I don’t
think. We knew that a long time ago. They want to take away your jobs, take
away your borders, take away your freedom, take away
your religion. And they even want to take away your beautiful Christmas that we
just got back.
Donald Trump: (42:49)
I have to be very careful. When I of imitate that, right? You remember I was
saying suburban women. I say, “Suburban women, love me. Please love me. I’ve
been so good to you. I’ve been so good to you.” I got rid of the worst
regulation of the history of suburbia. I got rid of that regulation. So now you
can actually have a house without a building going up next to it that you’re
not going to be happy about, without crime increasing by tenfold and this and
that. So I said, “But suburban women, please, please love me.” And CNN put me
on. “Donald Trump. Donald Trump is begging. He’s begging and crying for the
vote of suburban women, [inaudible 00:15:31]”
Donald Trump: (43:32)
These people are sick. So you have to be very careful when you’re sarcastic.
Sarcasm doesn’t work. Sarcasm doesn’t work with… Wow, that is a big group of
people back there. Look at that. The fake news. Whoa. That’s a big group. That
is a lot of fake news. Well, now we call it the fake news and suppression news.
I use the word suppression because now they got a new thing going. This happened
since Hunter, because we were killing them on Hunter, stealing money from every
country. He was a human vacuum cleaner and it was hurting them badly. So all of
a sudden big tech, together with their partner the Democrats, and their partner
the fake news media, they decide under no circumstances will we ever talk about
it again. So you have 95% of the media. You could have him be Jesse James and
walk into the bank with a gun, hold them up, give me all your money, and they
won’t talk about it. And it’s hard to have a scandal if they don’t talk about
it.
Donald Trump: (44:42)
Other than the New York Post and people like Sean Hannity and people like
Laura, and Tucker is doing good. I like Tucker lately. And our friends in the
morning. And I tell you, we have some great new people. OAN. NewsMax. And Judge Jeanine, she’s on right? She’s on
tonight. And Jesse Waters is great. And Pete Hexa.
And I’m in trouble because I don’t mention everybody, but we have great people.
We have a great voice, but the fact is most of the press was suppressed, so
that no matter what they wouldn’t talk and it was incredible. And I have to
give a lot of credit to Col Alan in the New York Post for what they did because
they went out and they fought him and they fought them hard. Oldest paper in
America, fourth or fifth biggest, and they should be very proud of themselves.
Donald Trump: (45:44)
But we’re doing the same thing. These two incredible people are doing the same
thing. We fight. If you don’t get out and vote, they are going to win. Now, a
lot of people, friends of mine say, “Let’s not vote. We’re not going to vote
because we’re angry about the presidential…” And they’re friends of mine. There
are people that are great people. They’re real friends. And more than just two,
there are numerous people. And it’s almost like a protest. But if you do that,
the radical left wins. Okay? It was sort of an instinct of mind. You’re angry
because so many votes were stolen. It was taken away. And you say, “Well, we’re
not going to do it.” We can’t do that. We have to actually do just the
opposite. We can’t do that. We can’t do that. We have to do just the opposite.
Donald Trump: (46:26)
If you don’t vote, the socialists and the communists win. They win. Georgia
Patriots must show up and vote for these two incredible people. And I’m telling
you, they’re two of the finest people you’ll ever meet. We can fight for the
presidency and fight to elect our two great senators and we can do it at the
same time. We’ll do it at the same time, it’s all right. The election is about
David Purdue, one of the greats. Kelly Leffler, a
person who is just unbelievable. How she picked it up. There’s natural talent.
As an athlete, I’d always say, “Would you rather practice or have natural
talent?” I said, “The best is both right?” But she’s got a great natural
talent, a great natural talent. Just very [inaudible 00:47:12]. But they
believe, both of them, in America, and they believe in our values and all that
we stand for. And they understand this state. They love your state. If they
didn’t, I wouldn’t be here because I love you stay too, by the way.
Donald Trump: (47:25)
This election is about the radical left movement that hates America and wants
to erase our history and wipe away everything that we hold dear. They want to
rip down our statues. I signed a bill. I took an old bill because we could
never get it today in the house headed by crazy Nancy. I took an old bill that
said, “Ten years in prison.” They used the word prison, not jail. “Ten years in
prison if you take down a statue.” I haven’t seen it happen lately. Do you
notice? Everyone said you can’t use that. I’ll never forget. I heard they were
going to… They did destruction around… And all in radical left, Democrat-run cities,
by the way, and we’re not supposed to go in. If I had it to do again, I think I
would have said the military in, if you want to know the truth. But we’re not
supposed to. They’re supposed to be able to handle their own affairs. I don’t
know.
Donald Trump: (48:16)
But all over, they said, “Sir, you can’t do this bill. This is too tough.” I
said, “Really, they’re going to tear down a statue of Abraham Lincoln, George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson. Desecrate the most
beautiful pieces of art… And they represent our country. And now they want to
do it again. They want to put it in. I told you, we can’t let it happen.”
Donald Trump: (48:37)
Over the last four years, David Purdue has been one of the toughest fighters
for our America First, America First agenda in Washington. And David saw this.
Did you see last week? China said… China doesn’t like me too much. They pay us
billions and billions. That never happened. Billions and billions of dollars in
tariffs and they pay it, they devalued their currency. They paid a lot of
money. They don’t like me. The happiest people in the world right now are the
leaders of China, the second happiest or the leaders of Iran. What we would
have done in the next four years, we would have been on a footing like nobody’s
ever. And now we’re giving it all away. But China said, “We will not deal with
you unless you get rid of the America First policy.” And you know what the
Democrats said? They said, “Yes, we will do that.” Can you believe this?
Donald Trump: (49:35)
And that’s what I realized what a brilliant name that is. We come up with some
good ones, but that’s a good one. We came up with plenty of good ones, haven’t
we? Some of them I won’t use because some of those people are now friends of
mine, but we came up with some good ones. But America First and I looked at Melania a week ago and I said, “Can you believe it? They
are saying that they don’t agree with America First.” How do you say that? I
mean, how do you say it? “We don’t agree with America first. We agree with
China. Yes. We will get rid of America First policy.” I think David, you don’t
like that too much. Right?
Donald Trump: (50:09)
And if they’re here, it won’t happen because nothing’s going to be able to get
past that’s not going to be reasonable. He fought to pass the largest package,
David, of tax cuts and reforms in American history. He helped lead the effort
to repeal a record number of job killing regulations, the likes of which you’ve
never seen, including the unfair Waters of the United States Rule that crippled
work for our farmers and our builders. It’s such a beautiful name, but it was
destroying people and I’ll never… Waters of the United… How beautiful is that?
Waters of the United States. And I said, “I got to get rid of it. I got to do
it, but I’m going to get killed.” Because the only thing good about it was the
title. Waters. “What are you doing today?” “I’m terminating waters of the
United States.”
Donald Trump: (50:57)
Well it was a little bit like the Paris Environmental Accord, right? The Paris
Environmental Accord. I said, “I’m going to get killed in this one.” But we
would have paid trillions and trillions of dollars. Russia has a big advantage
of us. They go back to old days when the air was very dirty, that was their
standard. China doesn’t kick in until 2030. We kick in immediately. And the
money that would have cost us… And if we adhere to it, we would have had to
close up 20% of our factories. And now the first thing they want to do… John
Kerry, great negotiator. The first thing they want to do is, number one, they
want to bring back the Paris Environmental Accord, which will cost us.
Donald Trump: (51:39)
That was designed to destroy the United States. The second thing they want to
do is, let’s give Iran billions of dollars. Oh, they’re so happy. Iran would
have been in my office in the first hour after we won the election to make a
deal. But perhaps they still will. He said they still will.
Donald Trump: (51:59)
After hurricane Michael devastated our farmers in Southwest Georgia, as I said,
no one worked harder to get them relief than David Perdue. He would call me all
the time. He actually called me more than Sonny and Sonny’s at Agriculture.
What the hell’s going on, Sonny? Sonny, what happened to you, Sonny? It’s true,
David would call all the time. And remember how tough the Democrats meant. They
didn’t want to give them anything. But we got it. We got them more than they
even thought possible.
Donald Trump: (52:24)
Senator Purdue helped pass the unprecedented $2.5 trillion investment in our
United States Military delivering the largest pay raises, in addition to
everything else, for our warriors in a decade. And we now have the greatest,
most modern military in the history of our country. We have brand new fighter
jets, brand new bombers, brand new missiles and rockets, hypersonic missiles.
We have hypersonic and hydro-sonic. You know what hydro-sonic is? Water. We
have them all. We have missiles that go seven times faster than any missile in
the world.
Crowd Chants: (53:06)
USA.
Donald Trump: (53:10)
And when we took over, our military was decimated, our military was tired, our
military was in big trouble. And you remember and I’ve said it a lot. One of
the world’s most overrated generals came to see me. He said, “Sir, we have no
ammunition.” We had a little problem with a certain country. And he said, “Sir,
we have no ammunition.” I said, “Tell me, you’re not saying that.” We didn’t
have ammunition. Think of it. We had very little ammunition and I’ll never
forget that statement. I said, “That should never happen to a president of the
United States again nor should being spied on ever happened to a president of
the United States again.”
Donald Trump: (53:45)
Senator Perdue has been a tremendous leader on pro-American immigration reform.
Like nobody else. He voted very powerfully when I was going through hell on the
wall. They would have given me anything. They gave me the money for the
military. They just didn’t want to give me money for the wall. So I took it out
of the military. What the hell could I do? That was rather good. It’s good to
be a developer. Everyone said it was. That was the one where the judges ruled
yesterday. So they said it was fine because I called it natural security. So we
took it out of the… They didn’t figure that one out. Now they do. But you know
what? They don’t have to be careful because it’s turned out to be very popular,
very successful.
Donald Trump: (54:20)
Shut down sanctuary cities. End chain migration and protect American jobs,
David did. He voted to confirm nearly 300 of the judges that I talked about.
The federal judges that interpret the constitution is written. And when the
Democrat mob came for judge Kavanaugh, David Purdue
stood strong. And I’m just thinking, they both stood strong when they impeached
your president for making a perfect phone call too. I’m the only president ever
will never… That got impeached for making a perfect phone call. But those two
were among the best.
Donald Trump: (55:02)
Senator Purdue is an outsider, a businessman, a great businessman, and a true American
Patriot. You need him fighting for you and your family and your values because
the United States Senate cannot be the same without him. So that’s why I’m
here. I don’t do these things for other people. In fact, I was curious, I
didn’t know if anyone was going to show up. I said, “I’m doing it for other
people.” This is a hell of a crowd lift. As far as the eye can see. As far as
the eye can see. I don’t like doing it for other people. I said, “David and
Kelly called, would you do a rally?” I said, “Not really. I did 56 of them in a
little tiny period of time.” I said, “Let me have…” And I said, when they asked
I… It was really not. But I don’t do them for other
people. It’s a lot of work to do a rally. A lot of work. People don’t realize.
When you do… I did five a day, the last four or five days. One day I did six.
Six. And the smallest one… Think of it, the smallest one.
Donald Trump: (56:03)
And the smallest one, think of it, the smallest one at 25,000 people, you think
that’s fun? In some of them it’s 75 degrees and
another it’s 20 degrees below zero and you’re doing them both. I’m saying,
“How’s the weather out there?” “Sir, it’s about 20 degrees below zero.” That’s
good. Then I land the next step, “How are we doing?” “Sir, it’s 82.” David’s
opponent Jon Ossoff is a radical left wing zealot who
is very proud to be endorsed by Bernie Sanders, crazy Bernie. Ossoff supports defunding the police, supports the crazy
Green New Deal, that’s another beauty. Don’t forget, the Green New Neal is
really $100 trillion, okay? It’s $100 trillion. They don’t say that, Louis, do
they? Talk about 3 trillion? They got down to 3 trillion, no, it’s $100 trillion is what they wanted. That’s more money,
if our economy was going unbelievable gangbusters for 100 years, no recession,
no anything we couldn’t come close to making 100 trillion.
Donald Trump: (57:04)
They want to rip down buildings and rebuild them with no windows. I like
windows, I like big, beautiful windows. He wants to do a total government
takeover of healthcare that will destroy your doctor’s offices and rural
hospitals. So if you are sick, if you have a cold go to a hospital, wait on
line for about three days and hope you get a decent doctor. Ossoff
also supports a crippling nationwide lockdown. He wants you to lock your home
nice and tight after you’re inside of it and he passes legislation to let
hardened criminals go free, get them out of jail, get them out of jail. Ossoff will be a complete tool for the radical left donors
who are trying to buy Georgia Senate seats.
Donald Trump: (57:51)
You see the money these people have raised? I mean, well, of course I just
raised $250 million and I should say. I didn’t raise it’s just… I said, how are
we doing on that front? Because we didn’t get great publicity, boy, they were
so happy these guys. You might not be happy in a few weeks, you might not. They
were so happy. I said, “How’s fundraising going?” They said, “Sir, about 250
million.” I said, “250 million what?” “Dollars.” How the hell did that happen?
Because people believe in what we’re doing, that’s why. They believe in what
we’re doing. But that’s why Ossoff’s donations come
from Silicon Valley, San Francisco and the other liberal places and they don’t
come from Georgia. This is not your fault… I know you. You’re with me, I’m with
you, we’ve always had wins from primers to two
elections. We won two elections, believe it or not. I think I won the second
one by more than I won the first one, I do, right? I won the second one by
more.
Donald Trump: (59:03)
On January 5th you also need to vote for your incredible Republican Senator
Kelly Loeffler. Kelly has been an exceptional
champion for Georgia’s workers and families. And I know what they fight for. If
I could tell you about David, I could tell you about Kelly, she fights for you
every single day, loves you state. When our nation was hit with the China
virus, Senator Loeffler helped rescue the U.S.
economy by voting to pass a historic $3 trillion bill relief for American
workers and families that a lot of people were against it and turned out to be
a great thing. Kelly, thank you.
Donald Trump: (59:44)
A lot of people said, “Oh, it’s too much.” I said, “It’s not their fault that I
want to get them more money now.” And I like the higher number rather than the
lower number, we’ll make it back. With our help we secured $15 billion for
175,000 Georgia small businesses and saved 1.5 million Georgia jobs, that was
both of them really, both of them. Kelly is a relentless advocate for Georgia
farmers and she is for tirelessly to get them relief in this pandemic. And by
the way her husband is a fine man who’s one of the most respected men in the
country, I want to tell you that. I want to tell you that. He’s a great man,
he’s a great gentleman.
Donald Trump: (01:00:28)
If you’re successful that it’s supposed to be a bad thing. No, I think it means
you’re smart sometimes, right? He’s a smart guy but he’s a great guy, he’s a
great man. At the urging of Kelly and David my administration took historic
action to protect growers of Georgia blueberries, peppers, squash and
cucumbers. Who does cucumbers around here? Because I like cucumbers. I’m the
only one, I like cucumbers.
Donald Trump: (01:00:54)
When our law enforcement heroes were under attack Senator Loeffler
stood up to the Marxists and introduced legislation to protect our brave men
and women in blue and she was threatened all over the place. That threat meant
nothing. That was a wasted number of phone calls or however the hell they
threatened you, that was a waste of time. She also
introduced legislation to prevent Democrat gun grabbers like Beto O’Rouke. Remember Beto? Beto.
Donald Trump: (01:01:23)
There’s a guy, here’s another one. He wants to take your guns away. Oh, by the
way, Trump is going to lose Texas but Beto O’Rouke who’s a big factor of that all thing wants to take.
Remember when Beto was running he was riding high and
then Ted Cruz has done a great job, beat Beto O’Rouke. But Beto was riding high
for a while. I remember he was on the cover of a certain really bad magazine, I
won’t mention the name it’s failing. It won’t be in business for another six
months, I don’t think, I hope. But he was on the cover and he said, “I was born
to do this.” And I said, “Anybody that says they were born to do this they’re
going to be losing very quickly.” And you know what? Within about two months he
was a stone cold loser. And just weeks ago Senator Loeffler
her vote to confirm our newest Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett. They
both did by the way, they both did. I can’t leave David out of that one.
Donald Trump: (01:02:24)
Kelly’s opponent, Raphael Warnock is a dangerous extremist who is radically
opposed to your values. He said he believes that, “Nobody can serve God and the
military.” Oh, really? An appalling statement that dishonors the memory and
generations of American heroes who fought for God and for our country. Raphael
Warnock has openly declared his support for socialism and he is even praised
Marxists all over the world. He once hosted the barbaric communist dictator,
Fidel Castro. He likes Castro, he thinks he was a good man. “He was a good
guy,” he said. He falsely slandered patriotic Americans as racist. He called
police officers gangsters, thugs, and bullies.
Donald Trump: (01:03:15)
He supports abolishing cash bail. Look at what happened to New York with their
cash bail, no cash bail. Don’t bail, don’t worry about it. You killed somebody,
don’t worry about it you’re on the honor code. And he’s declared, “Open up the
jails.” Free the violent criminals and prey on Georgia families, children. Now
you can’t do that. This is not for Georgia, yeah, I’m telling you. It might be
for some places that I tell you that too, this is not for Georgia. I think
Raphael has to move to another state.
Audience: (01:03:45)
Warnock.
Donald Trump: (01:03:46)
Try it again. Warnock is strongly anti-Israel and Warnock’s own writings make
clear that he believes America is a sinister nation that must be punished.
Don’t just take my word for it. We did something, I shouldn’t be doing this for
them, of course it’s too much money but we’ll do it anyway. We have a little
video to play, please.
Speaker 1: (01:04:09)
We, Senator Sanders, Senator Warren and myself are all on the same team. What
are you willing to sacrifice to make sure that’s over-funding police
departments is stopped? There is no middle road on the climate crisis. I not
only support a Green New Deal, I don’t think it goes far enough. I’m all for a
Green New Deal. This is part of what gun registration is about, we want to
track where the guns are. We need to cut the defense budget. Bye-bye for Chick-Fil-A.
Speaker 3: (01:04:36)
Are you in favor of expanding the court or perhaps an age limit in place
instead of a lifetime appointment?
Speaker 1: (01:04:45)
Well, I’ve said everything is on the table.
Speaker 2: (01:04:49)
But if we win the majority everything is on the table.
Speaker 4: (01:04:52)
Now we take Georgia and then we change America. Change is coming to America.
Speaker 5: (01:04:58)
The blue wave is comprised of those who are documented and undocumented.
Speaker 6: (01:05:02)
We’ll win these races in Georgia so that we don’t have to negotiate.
Speaker 7: (01:05:08)
That’s their goal, total radical control to bring horrific change to America.
Only Georgians can stop them.
Raphael Warnock: (01:05:16)
Nobody can serve God and the military.
Speaker 7: (01:05:19)
Raphael Warnock attacks our military.
Raphael Warnock: (01:05:21)
Police power, the kind of gangster and thug mentality.
Speaker 7: (01:05:26)
Warnock attacks our police.
Raphael Warnock: (01:05:29)
Somebody’s got to open up the jails.
Speaker 7: (01:05:31)
Raphael Warnock is dangerous, no wonder he defended this.
Raphael Warnock: (01:05:36)
Not God Bless America, not (beep) America. Now my hope is that in early January
Democrats will pick up two more seats in the Georgia runoffs and that will make
our life a lot easier. We need to send a message this year. We need to send a
message that if you indulge this kind of politics, you’re not just going to get
beaten. You’re going to get beaten so bad you can never run or show your face
again in public. [crosstalk 01:06:09]. Because we have
had enough, absolutely enough of what we are getting from Donald Trump and his
fellow travelers right now. [crosstalk 01:06:23].
Audience: (01:06:25)
Listen.
Raphael Warnock: (01:06:28)
You’re not going to get beaten, you’re going beaten so bad you can never run
again or show your face in public.
Donald Trump: (01:06:42)
So we had, I just looked at that one scene because it was in Washington and we
had about a month ago incredible crowds of people. They were angry as hell at
the election and they showed up and it was incredible, there were hundreds of
thousands of people, people couldn’t believe. Now, of course some of the fake
news said, “Hundreds of people.” Again, no, no, tens of thousands of people.
And Antifa, Antifa showed
up. Not the right but the left showed up and they looked at some of these
people and they wanted to attack the crowd. They looked and they said, “No,
thank you,” and they left. No problem. They looked at some of these people they
said, “No, thank you.”
Donald Trump: (01:07:24)
Then it broke up about three o’clock, everyone went home very peacefully, it
was a beautiful day, actually. They all went home peacefully. And that night
they came back and there were a few families that stayed around with young
children and there were some elderly people that were having dinner in
Washington, very elderly people. And they got attacked, those people got
attacked viciously by the scum from Antifa. We can’t
let this happen, we can’t let this happen.
Donald Trump: (01:07:51)
But what they didn’t play, what the fake news didn’t play is during the day
they walked in and they wanted to do some damage and they took a look and they
said, “No, thank you, we won’t do it. We’ll wait. We’ll wait till we get the
people with the children. We’ll wait till we get the elderly people that want
to stay in Washington and really just have a good time.” And it was disgusting
to watch. On January 5th, you must defeat Ossoff and
Warnock and send two great people, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler
back to the Senate. And if you don’t mind I’d like to ask David and Kelly to
come up and say a few words, please.
Kelly Loeffler: (01:08:54)
Thank you, Georgia, thank you Mr. President. President Trump, you made America
great again because you put America first, thank you. President Trump created
the strongest economy because he put the American worker first. He stood up,
that’s right, he stood up to the cancel culture, China, big tech, the fake
news. We are standing strong for President Trump because he’s fought for us
every single day, every day. Georgia, we need you to vote January 5th. If
you’re our voice on January 5th we’ll be your voice for years. We have to make
sure that we keep America strong. Thank you. Well, you know what? My colleague
David Perdue, my good friend was to make sure that you vote. We are going to
vote because if we don’t vote we will lose the country. If we vote, we will
win.
David Perdue: (01:10:06)
Hey guys, I want to take literally just one second. I want to say something
personal to President Trump. Hey guys, I want to say something for President
Trump personally. Yes, I want to say something personal for President Trump.
God bless you, we love you, Mr. President. We love the first lady and we’re
going to fight to win those two seats and make sure you get a fair square deal
in the State of Georgia. God bless you, Mr. President.
Donald Trump: (01:10:40)
Thank you very much. Thank you. Well, thank you very much. Thank you both.
Thank you, thank you. We’re fighting, we’re going to fight like you never saw
before, thank you. We can’t let what happened three weeks ago, we can’t let it
happen. Note, it’s beyond me. We can’t let it happen. And somewhere there’s
going to be a champion, you’re a champion, somewhere there’s going to be a
champion that’s going to do what’s right. Because this has been going on for a
long time, but never like it’s happened recently. And they’ve used the pandemic
and the phony fake ballots, the mail-in ballots, they used that to sabotage our
country. We’re not going to let it happen.
Donald Trump: (01:11:38)
As you know a major issue in this state is voter fraud, it’s been a big issue
for a long time but never like this. We sent out tens of thousands, millions
and millions of ballots. Nobody knew where they came from, where they are,
people were getting two, three, four ballots. They were signing them, sending
them in, what a mess. And I said it a year ago and I said it every month and I
even said, “Let’s postpone the election,” and they said, “Oh, he’s not at
American.” They knew what they were doing. They knew what they were doing.
Donald Trump: (01:12:09)
Were all deeply disturbed and upset by the lying, cheating, robbing, stealing
that’s gone on with our elections. We know the Democrats will have dead people
voting and you got to watch it, dead people. You wouldn’t believe how many
illegal aliens from out of the state and they’ll be filing out and filling out
ballots for people who don’t even exist. They put up names, they have people
signing their own name over and over. They have people signing names with the
same pen, with the same signature. They don’t even change because they know
once they get it in it’ll never be looked at, it’ll never be looked at again
because of people like your secretary of state and your governor.
Donald Trump: (01:12:57)
So we want signature verification but the answer… And we’re going to be very careful,
we’re going to watch every ballot, David and Kelly, we can’t let this happen
again. And again we have more light shining here because of what happened and
because of the fact it’s pinpointed. The answer to the Democrat fraud is not
stay at home, that’s what Nancy Pelosi and Schumer, that’s what they want you
to do, stay at home, just stay at home. If you want to
do something to them, I don’t want to use the word revenge, but it is a certain
revenge to the Democrats. You show up and vote in record numbers, that’s what
you have to do.
Donald Trump: (01:13:41)
They can only win if they cheat, they can’t win this state unless they cheat
and they cheat better than anybody. When you think it the Republicans are much
nicer. They’re not nearly as vicious, maybe a few of us. “Republicans are too
nice,” she said. You’re right. That’s a very good..
Thank you very much, I like that. But they are, they’re too nice. They don’t go
after these criminals, they got to go after them. We’re talking to people, “Go
after them,” they don’t go after them. They’re afraid they’ll hurt their
reputation when they get out, I don’t know, they don’t go after them. But we’re
watching this so closely, we have everybody watching. You got to get out and
vote.
Donald Trump: (01:14:22)
Let them steal Georgia again you’ll never be able to look yourself in the
mirror. We have to hold the line and you have two of the greatest people in
earth so we have to hold the line. Make sure that you and everyone else know
that you have to register to vote before this Monday, December 7th, is that
right? Monday, December 7th, you have to register to vote. Of course, you’ll
probably be allowed to if you’re a Democrat, they don’t have any time limit.
Did you see where Stacey is allowed to harvest but other people can’t harvest.
How is that constitutional? How is that constitutional? Has anybody looked at
that?
Donald Trump: (01:15:05)
Go to georgia.gov and register immediately then request your absentee ballot
before December 31st. Don’t delay, watch it closely. Do it today, do it
tomorrow and return your ballot the same day you get it. So they can’t say,
“Gee, it didn’t come in on time.” You know what they did it in one of the
states? Ballots were coming in late, very, very late so they backdated the
ballots. We have all the information, we have so much evidence. And then you go
to a court, “Oh, they don’t have enough evidence.” We have hundreds and
hundreds and even thousands of affidavits. And they say, “Oh, he doesn’t have
the evidence.” We have so much evidence we don’t know what to do with it. I’m
saying, “Do we put all of this into a file?” Again it’s like with wheelbarrows.
Donald Trump: (01:15:50)
If you aren’t planning to vote by mail, vote early in person or vote on
election day. Whatever you do I need each of you, every one of you, your
friends, your family to go and vote. And after we win
we need to pass landmark election reform including voter ID, is that so bad?
Residency verification, like we live in the country, we live in this state.
Citizenship confirmation. They want to say, “Oh, he doesn’t have to be a
citizen.” You got to see what’s voting… They’re not citizens. “You’re a
citizen?” “No, I’m not citizen.” “You speak English?” No, no English. I speak,
no English.” “Oh, you’re voting?” “Yeah.” This is the craziest thing.
Donald Trump: (01:16:40)
The Democrat National Committee had their convention. And they had a picture,
you couldn’t get in unless you had a picture, you had a photo ID. But when it
comes to the most important thing voting they don’t want to do it. And they
know, they know exactly. We just can’t let that happen. I’ve only been doing
this for short time. Believe me this is something we’re going to do because we
can’t allow it to happen. And complete overhaul of our election security
systems because right now Dominion is a joke, okay? Not a very funny joke.
Donald Trump: (01:17:15)
It’s a disgrace that in 2020 no state in America even makes any real attempt to
verify that those who cast ballots by mail are eligible and lawfully registered
voters. The evidence of fraud is overwhelming and again, I’m going to ask you
to look up at that very, very powerful and very expensive screen. I do this for
a few people, let’s go.
Pearson Sharp: (01:17:39)
We certainly want transparency. What he saw is what we revealed to you last
night on this program what appears to be Atlanta, Georgia ballot counters being
told to leave the counting room, then a short time later with no observers,
with no media, hidden cases of possible ballots are rolled out from under a
table. Four people under a cloud of suspicion begin what looks an awful lot
like ballot stuffing.
Richard Barron: (01:18:09)
And the media did pack up and leave at 11:15, but there weren’t observers there
at that time and there was no announcement made for anyone to leave.
Pearson Sharp: (01:18:21)
Now, wait a second here, that is disheveled Fulton County Elections Chief
Richard Barron, but he doesn’t have the facts right, video proves it. At 10:40
PM, not 11:15, 10:40, the media is packing up a half hour before he thinks
they’ll leave, you can see them putting on their jackets there. And by 10:56,
they are long gone. And the Trump team has sworn witness testimony claiming an
announcement was most certainly made. In fact, even CNN reported the counting
was being shut down due to a water main break that even election administrators
now acknowledge was a leaky toilet so someone had to tell those people to
leave.
Pearson Sharp: (01:19:05)
And if you look at this table there are ballots in boxes open and ready for
counting. Now, watch as they get packed up. Why would you need to secure them
and then ultimately take out the mysterious ballots from under the table to
start counting? It just doesn’t add up. Elections board member, Dr. Kathleen
Ruth shows her skepticism in that Zoom call this morning with the elections
chief.
Dr. Kathleen Ruth: (01:19:33)
It is interesting that these ballots were under a table versus being in the
open.
Richard Barron: (01:19:42)
Well, I think there’s this… I don’t know that there… I think those ballot boxes
get heavy. I don’t think they want to be lifting those things up and putting
them back down.
Pearson Sharp: (01:19:59)
It makes no sense. The guy is scratching his head, he just looks nervous. The
guy does not inspire confidence. There were already ballots out, but even
almost 24 hours since I posted what could be “smoking gun video of election
fraud,” a video now with 2.5 million views as of right now on my Twitter feed,
the head of elections whose ballot counters are now being accused of ballot
stuffing declares this.
Richard Barron: (01:20:30)
I’ll have to review. I need to review the video, I have not seen the video.
Speaker 8: (01:20:34)
Now, please do.
Pearson Sharp: (01:20:38)
Points to life. He hasn’t watched the video that could upend the presidential
election, and the guy in charge of the very people in the room admits he didn’t
watch the video before updating board members this morning? That’s insanity.
And yet Fulton County still certified the election. But you know who did watch
our video? Our viewers, Stinchfield army. One
directed me to this moment in the video. The woman in purple after putting
ballots in to be scanned it appears to take the same batch of ballots out,
straighten them, and then, look what she does with them. She re-inserts them
back into the ballot counting machine again, the same set of ballots. Now,
there may or may not be an explanation for this, but it certainly needs to be
investigated by law enforcement as the greatest political heist in election
history may have just been caught on camera.
Pearson Sharp: (01:21:43)
Evidence of election fraud mounts as the mainstream media and Democrats loudly
insist Joe Biden is still the 2020 winner. However, numerous whistleblowers are
coming forward with credible information that hundreds of thousands of votes
for President Trump mysteriously disappeared on election night. On Tuesday,
Jesse Morgan, a worker for the U.S. Postal Service revealed that his trailer
full of ballots simply went missing after he dropped them off. The worker drove
his truck from Bethpage, New York, all the way to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and
says he was carrying some 288,000 completed mail-in ballots.
Pearson Sharp: (01:22:18)
Phil Kline, the director of the legal group, Thomas More Society Amistad
Project says they have many more testimonies from whistleblowers with similar
stories. The project is working to discover flaws and even expose cases of
voting fraud in the 2020 election and has already uncovered serious examples of
voting irregularities. Backing out President Trump’s warnings, Kline explains
that the Post Office was rife with fraud and that many Postal Service workers
were taking part in widespread illegal efforts to undermine the election.
Pearson Sharp: (01:22:49)
While the missing truck full of ballots is bad enough, other whistleblowers say
they drove thousands of prefilled ballots right over state lines, which is a
federal crime. A subcontractor for the Post Office, Nathan Pease, said that he
was told by two separate postal workers that the Post Office in Wisconsin had
collected and backdated over 100,000 ballots on the morning after the election.
Unsurprisingly others also claimed the integrity of Dominion voting machines
has been compromised and cannot be trusted.
Pearson Sharp: (01:23:20)
During a press conference in Arlington, Virginia on Tuesday, the Project
explained that election officials in blue jurisdictions have failed to maintain
the ballot chain of custody which leaves the door wide open for voting fraud.
The Project said it has photographic evidence of people improperly accessing
voting machines and eye witness accounts on how the seals on ballot hard drives
were illegally tampered with and broken. Kline says that in total there are
over 300,000 fraudulent ballots in Arizona, 548,000 in Michigan, 204,000 in
Georgia, and 121,000 in Pennsylvania. Based on this evidence the FBI has
reportedly requested to look at the Project’s data on voting integrity…
Pearson Sharp: (01:24:03)
… has reportedly requested to look at the project’s data on voting integrity
and potential election fraud. Pearson Sharp, One America News.
Donald Trump: (01:24:13)
So if you just take the crime of what those Democrat workers were doing, and by
the way, there was no water main break. You know they said… there was no water
main break.
Donald Trump: (01:24:25)
That’s 10 times more than I need to win this state, 10 times more. It’s 10
times maybe more than that, but it’s 10 times more because we lost by a very
close number. The alleged Biden margin of victory in several states is entirely
accounted for by extraordinarily large midnight vote dumps. You saw them going
up to the sky, all extremely skewed to Biden. Like, Biden would get 10,000
votes and Trump would get three in a Trump area. Oh. For, example, at 6:31 AM
in Michigan, reported 141,238 votes for Joe Biden and 5,900 votes for Donald
Trump.
Audience: (01:25:13)
Boo.
Donald Trump: (01:25:14)
96% for Biden, 4% for Trump in an area where I should be doing quite well. You
know, I won almost every county in Michigan, almost every district, except for
one. And they actually had more people, if you look at the ballots, they had
ballots all over. They had more ballots than they had people voting. How do you
do that? So they had people and they’re voting, and then as you know, two of
the canvassers were very brave. They didn’t vote, and they got the hell knocked
out of them from the standpoint of what they went through. All the cameras went
off and then they raised their hand, but then they couldn’t sign it ultimately,
but more ballots than they had voters. Now, how simple is that?
Donald Trump: (01:25:56)
A similar vote dump occurred in Wisconsin at 3:42 AM. This is 3:42 in the
morning. In fact, when I went to bed that night, everybody was calling,
“Congratulations. You’re up 600,000 votes in Pennsylvania.” Across all of the
key swing states, there were impossibly low rejection rates, you saw that, for
mail-in ballots, drastically less than the historic norm. In Georgia 0.5% of
the mail-in ballots were rejected in 2020 compared to 5.77%. That’s a
difference of 11 times more. It’s hundreds of thousands of votes. In
Pennsylvania, 0.03% were rejected in 2020 compared to a much, much higher
percentage in 2016. This issue alone is enough to change the election results
in many states.
Donald Trump: (01:26:51)
Whistleblowers. And that’s the smallest of the issues, whistleblowers in
multiple states have testified to witnessing postal workers and election
workers illegally backdating thousands and thousands of ballots, fixing
ballots, filling out false birthdays, registering ineligible voters, and much,
much more. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of votes in each state. In
Arizona, a sample of 100 ballots reviewed by a judge found that a very small
percentage of these ballots, very small, but when you look at it, it was turned
out to be very large, it was tens of thousands of votes, more than we would
have needed to win Arizona. We should have won that state very easily. We have
a similar type of governor, I think, but I’ll let you know that in about a
week.
Donald Trump: (01:27:43)
In one Michigan county, and by the way, when Laura Ingram interviewed your
governor, he said he was an offensive lineman. I said, “That’s strange. He
doesn’t look like an offensive lineman to me.” In one Michigan county using Dominion voting systems, nearly 6,000 votes
were discovered that were wrongly switched from Trump to Biden. They called it
a glitch. You know a glitch? Just like the machine broke. Numerous times we
found glitches, and every single time, the glitch went a hundred percent to
Biden and no percent to Trump. The same systems are used in 30 states.
Donald Trump: (01:28:20)
The left lies, they cheat and they steal. They are ruthless and they are hellbent on getting power and control by any means
necessary. They investigate you and they prosecute you. The moment you question
them, they try and intimidate you. They call you a poor American. You’re not a
good American. You don’t love our country. They don’t love our country. They
beat you down, shut you up and make you retreat. That’s what they do. That’s what
they’ve done to your governor. They’ve done that to your governor. Your
governor should be ashamed of himself. That’s what they want to do right here
in Georgia. They want you to be quiet. They want you to go away, but we don’t
go away. We don’t go.
Donald Trump: (01:29:09)
It’s the biggest open secret in America that Democrats cheat in elections, this
year by sending out 65 million mail-in ballots. They perpetrated the largest
fraud in the history of our country. Democrat officials and politicians in
every swing state, systematically weakened every measure to combat election
fraud. They ensured that there were no identity checks, no signature checks. “I
want to check a signature, please.” “I’m sorry. We don’t let you do that.” No
eligibility checks, no nothing.
Donald Trump: (01:29:44)
Every single one of you know that if these ballots are properly audited, if the
signatures and envelopes were examined, if the envelopes were correlated to the
votes, because you’ll find there are far more ballots than there are envelopes,
all you have to do is count them up. How many ballots do you have? How many
envelopes do you have? And if the voter rolls are studied, in other words,
studied to check the signature. “Ms. Smith. Oh, it’s a totally different
signature from 2 years ago, from 6 years ago, from 10 years ago. What’s that
all about?” We will find that hundreds of thousands of ballots were illegally
cast in your state and all over the country, by the way, more than enough to
give us a total historic victory.
Donald Trump: (01:30:35)
This is our country that they are… and you know this and you see it, but
they’re trying to take it from us through rigging, fraud, deception, and deceit.
That’s what we saw in the election. That’s what’s going on, and it’s happening
right now in our country. We will do something about it, and we’re going to do
something about it quickly. We’re going to be watching on January 5th, we’re
going to be watching every element of what they do. This fraud that they
perpetrated on our country, we’re going to be watching it more closely than any
election has ever been watched. Hopefully, our legislatures and the United
States Supreme Court will step forward and save our country.
Donald Trump: (01:31:23)
I used to say, “Without borders, we don’t have a country.” I can say also
without an honest voting system, without an electoral process that works and
that’s honest and fair, we don’t have a country either. We need to check every
single signature in the presidential and senatorial elections. Right now, we
have to get out to vote for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler
to show the radical left that we will never surrender, we will only win. We’re
going to win. We always win. Somehow we find a way to win.
Donald Trump: (01:31:54)
Now, is not the time to retreat. Now is the time to fight harder than ever
before. So don’t listen to my friends. Just go out, just go out. And you know
what they’re saying? They’re saying, “We want you to fix the system.” We’re
going to fix the system, but the system will be fixed when these people get in.
They’ll get in and we’ll fix this system because we’re all victims. Everybody
here, all these thousands of people here tonight, they’re all victims, every
one of you.
Donald Trump: (01:32:24)
The next great victory for our movement begins right here on January 5th. Then
we are going to win back the White House. We’re going to win it back. We’re
going to take back the house in 2022, and then in 2024. And hopefully I won’t
have to be a candidate, we’re going to win back the White House again. A friend
of mine said, “Oh, don’t worry about it, sir. You’re way up in the polls.
You’ll win in 2024.” I said, “I don’t want to wait until 2024. I want to go
back three weeks.”
Donald Trump: (01:33:07)
We’re thrilled to be joined tonight by some real friends of all of ours,
Representatives Doug Collins. It was fantastic, and by the way, I’ve got to
tell you. As you know, he and Kelly had a great primary, a very strong primary.
They both did fantastically well, and he is on board and he is one of the
greatest advocates I’ve ever met in Washington. I want to thank Doug Collins.
Where’s Doug? Thank you, Doug. What a job he does. Thank you. Doug, you want to
run for governor in two years [inaudible 01:33:45]? Yeah. Good-looking
governor.
Donald Trump: (01:33:55)
A friend of mine, one of the toughest guys you’ll ever see, Louie Gohmert of Texas. Louie. Thank you Louie. Thank you, Louie.
And a young up-and-comer who’s taken Washington by storm, Dan Crenshaw. Where’s
Dan? Where’s Dan? Where is Dan? I didn’t see you, Dan. The first time that’s
ever happened to me. Yeah, because you do stand out in many ways. Thank you
very much, San.
Donald Trump: (01:34:27)
The next Senator from Tennessee just got elected. Did my endorsement help? Ah?
Better believe it. We love Tennessee. Bill Haggerty. He’s going to be a great
Senator. He’s going to be a great senator for a long time. You’re a former
eight-year governor. He only left because of a thing called term limits. If I
would’ve known, I would’ve tried to end those term limits, but he went to the
Department of Agriculture as his head.
Donald Trump: (01:34:55)
He’s done a tremendous job. We’ve handed out $28 billion to farmers, 28
billion. I said, how badly have we been targeted by China? And Sonny produced
that over a two-year period, sir. $28 billion. That’s when I put the tariffs on
China, took the money and gave it out to the farmers. And we had a lot of money
left over and we put that into the U.S. treasury, right Sonny? You’ve done a
fantastic job. He knows more about farms than any human being.
Donald Trump: (01:35:24)
State representative. A friend of mine, and great gentleman. He saw what was
happening. He happens to be a Democrat, but we love him. I’m trying to talk him
into joining our party. Vernon Jones. [inaudible
01:35:36]. Thank you Vernon. What a great guy.
Donald Trump: (01:35:44)
Agriculture commissioner, Gary Black. Gary, good job you’re doing. Boy, what a
good reputation. Thank you very much, Gary. Your Public Service Commission’s
Tricia Pridemore, Jason Shaw and a great man. Great,
great man who’s also on the ballot next month. Bubba McDonald. I like that
name. Where’s Bubba? [inaudible 01:36:06].
Audience: (01:36:06)
Go Bubba. Yes.
Donald Trump: (01:36:10)
Great, great job. Great job. That’s great. Thanks a lot, Bubba. And I introduce
you to Bert Jones. Bert’s going to be a very important man, I think, over the
next coming with William and Brandon and the folks and I appreciate it. And
Greg, thank you very much for being here. We appreciate it very much. Very important.
Georgia Republican Party Chairman, David Shafer. David. Hi David, how are we
doing, David? We’ll fire you so fast if we don’t. Now, David’s done a great,
great job, and he works very closely with RMC chairwoman. This is how we won.
We won a great state. We won a great state known as Michigan when she was
there. And I said, “Let’s bring her to Washington.” Ronna
McDaniel. Thank you, Ronna. Thank you. Thank you,
Rona.
Donald Trump: (01:37:06)
Over the last four years, we’ve built the greatest political movement in the
history of our country. Already, we’ve achieved more than anyone thought
possible and we’re just getting started and we don’t want other people to rip
it apart. We must reelect Kelly and David to keep it going for decades. Our
politicians spent trillions and trillions of dollars rebuilding other foreign nations,
fighting foreign wars and defending foreign borders. We want to defend our
border if it’s okay. And we’re now finally protecting our nation, rebuilding
our cities, and we are bringing our jobs, our factories, and our troops back
home to the USA where they belong, thank you.
Donald Trump: (01:37:51)
Bringing them home. Not easy to bring them home. I bring them home, and they
say, “Well, Sir, we got to keep them there, sir. We got to keep spending
money.” We got to keep giving money to these countries that can’t stand us, that nobody ever heard of-
Audience: (01:38:06)
Boo.
Donald Trump: (01:38:06)
In everything we do, we are putting America first. We ended the war on American
energy and the United States is now the number one producer of oil and natural
gas anywhere on earth.
Donald Trump: (01:38:21)
We achieved the most secure border in U.S. history, and we built our wall, as I
say. Very important for you because you’re a big military between the equipment
we build and VA choice and VA accountability, right? You ever notice the vets?
We used to always have… On television, you’d have the fake news, they’d always
be… Well in that case, it wasn’t fake, but for years, you’d always see vets how
badly treated they were, how badly treated. I shouldn’t say this because
they’ll find one somewhere in the country, but you don’t see that. You don’t
see that anymore. You don’t see the stories on the evening news about vets that
are being treated horribly. And accountability was a big factor. We fired 9,000
horrible people that took advantage of our vets, and they’re gone. Now if our
vets don’t get good service, they go out, they see a doctor. We pay the bill,
they get better. They don’t wait in line for weeks and months.
Donald Trump: (01:39:20)
We destroyed 100% of the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria. We killed the leader
of ISIS, al-Baghdadi and we eliminated the world’s top terrorist, Soleimani is dead. I withdrew from the last administration’s
disastrous Iran nuclear deal, and I think they want to start it up again. Can
you believe this?
Audience: (01:39:44)
Boo.
Donald Trump: (01:39:46)
I wonder if they’ll give him 150 billion. No, they’ll give him 250. They were
ready to rock. They were ready to do whatever we wanted. Now they’re going to…
they’re salivating. I recognized the true capital of Israel and opened the American
embassy in Jerusalem, and also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan
Heights. Instead of endless war, we are forging peace all over the world.
Donald Trump: (01:40:13)
And you know, we have the greatest military ever. We have the greatest
equipment, all made in the USA. A lot of it made in Georgia, but you know what?
I’m the only one in many, many decades that hasn’t started a war. Everyone
thought that with my personality, I’d be in war the first week. They were all
saying war, and we developed relationships. Let’s see how he would do with Kim
Jong-un of North Korea. I don’t think too well, but whatever happened to that?
Remember I came in, it was going to be war with North Korea. It was going to be
war with everybody.
Donald Trump: (01:40:46)
Now, we built the greatest military in the world and the better it is, the less
likely it is that we’re going to have to use it. But everything that we’ve
achieved together is on the line on June 5th. And this election, you can send a
message to the fake news media, and there’s a lot of them right back there.
Audience: (01:41:03)
Boo.
Donald Trump: (01:41:08)
They’ll find something wrong with this evening. I don’t know what it is, but
they’ll find something wrong. Maybe it was the person that shouted love.
They’ll say I was a horrible protester. They’ll find something. Kelly and
David, they’re going to find something. They’re looking and having a hard time.
It’s been a love fest. This is a love fest for these two people. But they all
want the Silicon Valley sensors and the corrupt Democrat political machine.
They’re partners. You must vote for David Perdue and Kelly Leffler.
Go out and vote. With your help, we are going to continue our mission to save
America. We will defend the right to life, religious liberty, free speech and
the right to keep and bear arms. They’re going to take your guns away.
Donald Trump: (01:41:57)
We will always support the heroes of law enforcement. We will maintain
America’s unrivaled military might, and we will preserve peace through
strength. We will protect social security and Medicare, and we will always
protect patients with pre-existing conditions.
Donald Trump: (01:42:18)
We will stop the radical indoctrination of our students and children, and
restore a patriotic education to our schools. We will teach our children to
love our country, honor our history and always respect our great American flag.
We will live by the words of our national motto, In God We Trust.
Donald Trump: (01:42:47)
From Atlanta to Augusta, from Savannah to Columbus and from Athens to right
here, right here, this is a nice place. It’s a nice place, Valdosta. We inherit
the legacy of generations of American patriots who gave their blood, sweat, and
tears to defend our country and our freedom. We stand on the shoulders of
American heroes who crossed the oceans, settled the continent, tamed the
wilderness, laid down the railroads, raised up the great skyscrapers, won two world
wars, defeated fascism and communism, and made America into the single greatest
nation in the history of the world.
Donald Trump: (01:43:32)
And if they get in, and add me into the group, if you don’t mind, we will be
greater than ever before without question. The best is yet to come.
Donald Trump: (01:43:46)
Proud citizens like you helped build this country, and together we are taking
back our country. Our fight to drain the Washington swamp and reclaim America’s
destiny has just begun. We will not bend. We will not break. We will not yield.
We will never give in. We will never give up and we will never back down. We
will never, ever surrender because we are Americans and our hearts bleed red,
white, and blue.
Audience: (01:44:20)
U.S.A. U. S.A.
Donald Trump: (01:44:39)
We are one movement, one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God.
And together with the incredible people of Georgia, we have made America
powerful again. They’ve done it. We have made America wealthy again. We have
made America strong again. We have made America proud again. We have made
America safe again, and we will make America great again. Thank you, Georgia.
Get out and vote, get out and vote.
ATTACHMENT FOUR – from Rev transcripts
Loeffler/Warnock (12/6/20)
Russ Spencer: (00:10)
Good evening and welcome. I’m Russ Spencer evening anchor for FOX 5 in Atlanta,
and you were watching The Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young
Debate Series. We are broadcasting from the studio of Georgia Public
Broadcasting Atlanta, and we welcome viewers from across the state and the
country. This is the runoff debate for US Senate to fill the seat currently
held by Georgia, Senator Kelly Loeffler, and let’s
meet the candidates now.
Russ Spencer: (00:31)
They are in alphabetical order, Republican candidate Kelly Loeffler.
She was appointed to the US Senate in January of 2020 to replace retiring
Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson. She is also part owner of Atlanta’s WNBA team,
the Atlanta Dream. Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock is the senior pastor at
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Ebenezer of course, the church where Martin
Luther King Jr. was pastor.
Russ Spencer: (00:54)
Let’s meet our panel now. Greg Bluestein is a political reporter with The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Lisa Rayam is host
and senior producer of NPR’s morning edition on WABE Radio in Atlanta. Now
let’s get started. The topics were not shared with the candidates in advance.
The debate will be divided into three rounds and in each round, candidates will
have 60 seconds to answer questions and 30 seconds for a rebuttal. And as
moderator, I will determine when a rebuttal is appropriate. In the first round,
candidates will be asked two questions each. And Greg, you get the first
question to Senator Loeffler.
Greg Bluestein: (01:28)
As Senator Loeffler, thanks for joining us. President
Trump opened his election rally last night by falsely claiming he won Georgia.
He didn’t. According to certified state election results, he lost the state by
about 12,000 votes. Do you stand by his narrative that the election was rigged
and do you support his demand that Governor Kemp to call a special session to
seek to overturn those results?
Kelly Loeffler: (01:47)
Well, first I want to thank the Atlanta Press Club for hosting this important
debate. And look, it’s vitally important that Georgians trust our election
process and the president has every right to every legal recourse and that’s
what’s taking place. But I’ve called for investigations and the others 250
investigations open here in Georgia. But the president was also clear that
Georgians need to come out and vote for David Perdue and myself because of
what’s at stake in this election.
Kelly Loeffler: (02:18)
You know, Chuck Schumer said, “Now we take Georgia then we change America.” We
all know what that change would be. They’ve been very clear. They want to raise
taxes on hardworking Georgians. They want to defund the police. They want to
open our borders. They want to implement the green new deal. I’m fighting for
every single Georgian to live the American dream that I was blessed to live.
Greg Bluestein: (02:41)
Senator, do you believe that the election was rigged?
Kelly Loeffler: (02:44)
Look, Greg, it’s very clear that there were issues in this election. There are
250 investigations open, including an investigation into one of my opponents organizations for voter fraud. And we have to make
sure that Georgians trust this process because of what’s at stake in this
election. The promise that Chuck Schumer made was to fundamentally change
America and I’m making sure that we don’t go down the road of socialism.
Russ Spencer: (03:12)
Lisa, your turn to ask a question to Reverend Warnock.
Lisa Rayam: (03:15)
Dr. Warnock, good evening?
Raphael Warnock: (03:16)
Good evening.
Lisa Rayam: (03:17)
As a pastor, there are those who are a little uncomfortable with someone
switching from the pulpit to the Senate floor in Washington. If elected, how
will you navigate the US constitution’s edict separating church and state?
Raphael Warnock: (03:31)
Thank you so very much. It’s wonderful to be here and I want to thank everybody
who tuned in tonight. I also became aware that Senator Loeffler
lost a member of her staff, and I want to extend my condolences to her and also
to the family of that young man. Listen, my whole life has been about service.
It is why I entered into the ministry and I am running for the United States
Senate as a continuation of that life project.
Raphael Warnock: (04:06)
The thing about me running for the Senate is that this gives me an opportunity
to work on the issues I’ve been working on for years. I’ve been fighting for
access to affordable healthcare, I’ve been fighting for voting rights, I’ve
been fighting for is essential workers, ordinary people, because I know what
it’s like to be an ordinary person. I grew up in public housing, the first
college graduate in my family of 12 number. I’m 11 and if it were not for Pell
Grants, low-interest student loans, I wouldn’t be here. I know the importance
of good federal policy.
Lisa Rayam: (04:36)
Your goal is to work for fighting families, but what does that translate into
beyond affordable housing and healthcare, as you just mentioned?
Raphael Warnock: (04:43)
Well, we got to make sure that we center ordinary people in all of the policy
that we do. I grew up with a father and a mother who instilled into me great
values, and my dad had a way of saying, “Get up and put your shoes on.” And so
he gave me the sense of a work ethic. But if I’m honest, that alone would not
put me here on this stage. I mean, here’s a kid who grew up in public housing,
I’m running for the United States Senate against the wealthiest member of
Congress.
Raphael Warnock: (05:14)
Only in America is that possible and I am fighting to make sure that kids like
me, whether they are growing up in public housing, down in Savannah, Georgia,
or rural disaffected communities in North Georgia, that they have access to the
American dream that I believe so much in. And I’m concerned that Washington is
not focused on ordinary people. You can’t tell the difference between
Washington back rooms and corporate boardrooms. My opponent represents the
worst of that kind of problem and that’s why I’m grateful for this opportunity.
Kelly Loeffler: (05:49)
I’d like to respond.
Russ Spencer: (05:50)
Please do.
Kelly Loeffler: (05:51)
Thank you. I was born and raised on a farm. I grew up working in the fields. I
waitressed my way through school and I was the first in my family to graduate from
college. I worked hard to live the American dream and became a job creator
right here in Georgia. But this type of rhetoric is a distraction from the
issues at hand. The Democrats want to fundamentally change America and the
agent of change is my opponent radical liberal Raphael Warnock, someone that
has had attacked police from the pulpit, someone that has attacked our
military, someone that has agreed to raise taxes on hardworking Georgians, as
much as $2,000 per family off the bats. That’s not what Georgians need to get
through this pandemic and get our economy going. I’m fighting for the American
dream every day.
Russ Spencer: (06:38)
Okay. Reverend, you’re going to have an opportunity to respond to those things
because I know Greg is going to get to them. It’s his turn to ask you a
question.
Greg Bluestein: (06:43)
Yeah. I have a question on that same topic. You’ve been attacked for comments
you made from the pulpit about law enforcement in the military foreign policy
among others. You’ve also said they’re taken out of context, but you made these
remarks in a public forum. Why shouldn’t Georgians take them at face value?
Raphael Warnock: (06:58)
Look, it’s clear to me that my opponent is going to work really hard, spending
millions of dollars of her own money, trying to push a narrative about me
because she’s clearly decided that she does not have a case to be made for why
she should stay in that seat. I have worked my whole life to pull people together.
I’ve been working on criminal justice reform. I’ve worked alongside law
enforcement officers to do that work. Several years ago, I actually brought
together the law enforcement officers here in this city, the chief of police,
the Black Lives Matter activists, the sitting attorney general, families,
parents all in my church, focused on working on these issues that we’ve seen
emerge time and time again.
Raphael Warnock: (07:51)
And we need somebody who knows how to bring people together rather than using
these issues as a political point to be made. These issues are tragic and our
law enforcement officers lay it on the line every day. They have an ally with
me. I just think that you can affirm what law enforcement officers do and hold
them accountable.
Russ Spencer: (08:11)
Senator Loeffler, 30 seconds.
Kelly Loeffler: (08:14)
My opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock has called police officers
gangsters, thugs, bullies and a threat to our children. When I gave him the
chance to apologize in our first debate, he declined. He’s also said that you
can’t serve God and the military. He’s used the Bible to justify these types of
attacks and make other divisive statements. What we need is someone who can
bring together that can help us get through this pandemic and rebuild our
economy across this country and right here in Georgia. That’s what I’m fighting
to do.
Russ Spencer: (08:45)
Do you want to put that into context?
Raphael Warnock: (08:47)
Sure. I’d love to respond. Listen, this is why I think folks have turned off
from politics very often because people will turn anything into a kind of
cynical political argument. I was preaching that day from a very familiar
Matthew texts that says you can’t serve God and mammon. It was a sermon about a
moral foundation for everything that we do and that when you have everything in
order, that actually makes you a better soldier. It also makes you a better
Senator and had Kelly Loeffler listened to the sermon
rather than trying to make a cheap political point, she wouldn’t have used her
advantage as US Senator to make millions on a pandemic while playing it down to
the people she was supposed to be representing.
Russ Spencer: (09:34)
Lisa, it’s your…
Kelly Loeffler: (09:35)
I’d like to respond.
Russ Spencer: (09:36)
Oh, go ahead please.
Kelly Loeffler: (09:38)
I’m a Christian, I’m a person of deep faith. I don’t need a lecture from
someone who has used the Bible to not only justify attacking our military.
That’s not in Matthew 6:24. It doesn’t say you can’t serve the military and
God, but he’s also used the Bible to justify abortion. I cannot stand by and
let Georgians not know who my opponent is, how radical his views are and how he
would fundamentally change our country. He’s out of step with Georgia’s values.
Russ Spencer: (10:09)
All right. In the second round, you’ll get a chance to ask questions of each
other. Lisa has one last question here for Senator Loeffler.
Lisa Rayam: (10:15)
Senator Loeffler, good evening? State election
official Gabriel Sterling proclaim, “This has to stop.” He was referring to
threats against election workers, Governor Kemp, and the secretary of state who
received death threats. Sterling warn that false claims of widespread election
fraud could lead to violence. He said, “Somebody is going to get killed.” At
his urging, you responded by denouncing the violence, but some didn’t think
that was enough. So tell us tonight, what is your message to those who’d
threaten officials and have you made an effort to help lower the temperature on
the behalf of the Republican party?
Kelly Loeffler: (10:53)
Well, absolutely. As someone who has been the subject of threats of violence, I
absolutely denounce it. But you know, here’s what’s at stake. The future of our
country hangs on this state having free, fair, trusted elections. We have built
an organization within our campaign to make sure that Georgians trust this
process. And president Trump has encouraged Georgians to get out and vote
because the future of the country is at stake on January 5th. We need folks to
trust the process because that’s what makes our democracy possible right here.
Kelly Loeffler: (11:25)
We’ve got to get to the bottom of these investigations that have started too
late. There’s 250 investigations, including into Rafael Warnock’s voter
registration organization for the second time for trying to register voters in
New York. That doesn’t represent the voice of Georgia. I’m going to fight to
make sure that we hold officials accountable for carrying out free, fair,
trusted elections that are accurate.
Russ Spencer: (11:51)
Reverend, I want to ask you about this election. Much has been made of
president Trump’s refusal to concede, but two years ago, Stacey Abrams refused
to concede the governor’s race saying that there was voter suppression. Do you
think there was voter suppression two years ago? And do you think this election
has been fair?
Raphael Warnock: (12:08)
Listen, voter suppression is something that happens all across our country.
It’s happened here in the state of Georgia, but Stacey Abrams did not refuse to
acknowledge the fact that her opponent was the governor. Here we are several
weeks after the election and Kelly Loeffler continues
to cast doubt on an American democratic election. It’s time to put this behind
us and get focused on the concerns of ordinary people. Well, she’s playing
political games, trying to represent somebody who doesn’t live in Georgia.
Raphael Warnock: (12:43)
Georgians are wondering when are they going to get some COVID-19 relief?
They’re wondering who is going to put small businesses in front of the large
corporate giants. And they’re wondering when are we going to give to people we
call essential workers and essential wage. I want to go to the United States
Senate to stand up ordinary people. And when politicians aren’t satisfied with
the voters, they try to pick their voters and that’s what’s going on right now.
Kelly Loeffler: (13:14)
May I respond?
Russ Spencer: (13:15)
Please.
Kelly Loeffler: (13:17)
Radical liberal Raphael Warnock has partnered with Stacey Abrams in these voter
suppression conspiracies when in fact, we have record turnout in our state year
after year. And it’s unfortunate that the focus is on a debate about who won
the election when this process is still playing out and president Trump has
every right to every legal recourse. But we also have to make sure that George
has know that we have a process that works, that their vote is counted, and
that no illegal votes are counted.
Kelly Loeffler: (13:48)
And that’s what I’m going to continue to fight for to make sure that Georgians
know everything is at stake in this election. The future of our country, not
just the radical ideas of the left, but the radical candidates who would defund
the police, who would stand by and attack our military, and then withdraw funds
that would support Chuck Schumer’s defunding of our military by 25%. And I’m
going to continue to make sure that we come back from this virus strong. I’m
the only candidate qualified to help rebuild our economy and get past this
pandemic.
Russ Spencer: (14:18)
All right. We want to get to the point where you can ask each other questions.
That does conclude the first portion of this debate. For people just tuning in,
you’re watching the runoff debate for one of Georgia’s two us Senate seats. We
move now to the second round where the candidates will ask each other a
question. Candidates have 30 seconds to ask a question, 30 seconds to respond
to their opponent’s answer. Reverend Warnock, you get the first question to
Senator Loeffler.
Raphael Warnock: (14:42)
Thank you so much. Senator Loeffler, when you
received the private briefing regarding the coronavirus pandemic, you dumped
millions of dollars of stock in order to protect your own investments. And then
weeks later, when there came an opportunity to give ordinary Georgians an extra
$600 of…
Raphael Warnock: (15:02)
… to give ordinary Georgians an extra $600 of relief. You said you saw no need
and called it counterproductive. Why do you think it’s counterproductive to
help ordinary Georgians in the middle of a pandemic?
Kelly Loeffler: (15:15)
Well, thank you for that question, because I’ve been completely exonerated.
Those are lies perpetrated by the left wing media and Democrats to distract
from their radical agenda. Since I got to the Senate, I’ve worked hard to
deliver relief to Georgians during this pandemic, and I’m continuing to do
that. But look what Democrats have done. They have stood for stonewalling relief
that I voted for twice in the Senate to deliver relief to families, to farmers,
to schools and hospitals. They’re playing politics. That’s what they’re using
their lies to cover up, the fact that they don’t have a positive agenda to lift
Georgians up. They want to defund the police, raise your taxes, implement the Green New Deal that would crush jobs and
opportunity. And what I’m working on is making sure that we can get the economy
going again, that we can drive forward after this pandemic. And I’ve been working
side-by-side for my colleagues to make sure that we get that done, and we have
delivered results. $47 billion that I brought here to Georgia saved 1.5 million
jobs at small businesses.
Russ Spencer: (16:17)
Reverend, you have 30 seconds to respond if you’d like.
Raphael Warnock: (16:20)
Listen, I do not want to defund the police, and Kelly Loeffler
knows it, but she keeps saying this because she wants to distract from her own
record. The truth of the matter is, were it left up to her, Georgians would not
have received the $600 of expanded unemployment insurance. And they haven’t
seen any relief in months, and she hasn’t done anything. She’s done nothing to
provide relief for ordinary people, the folks I’m seeing all across this state
who are in pain in the middle of this pandemic.
Russ Spencer: (16:52)
Senator Loeffler, it’s your turn to ask a question of
Reverend Warnock.
Kelly Loeffler: (16:55)
Reverend Warnock, in your writings and your teachings you’ve repeatedly praised
Marxism and the redistribution of income. Can you here and now for all
Georgians renounce socialism and Marxism?
Raphael Warnock: (17:10)
Listen, I believe in our free enterprise system, and my dad was a small
business owner. During the Great Recession, you know what I was doing? I was
leading my church to build a community center, where among other things we had
a financial literacy center that taught people how to repair their credit,
create a 700 credit score community, how to create a business, how to buy a
home, how to participate in our free enterprise system. Kelly Loeffler, on the other hand, was teaching the big banks how
to hide their investments offshore in the Cayman Islands. This is how she spent
her career before she went to the Senate. This is what she’s been focused on
now that she’s in the Senate. She was only there three weeks, I’m not sure she
was fully unpacked, when she started dumping millions of dollars of stock,
trying to protect herself. And she purchased that seat. It’s done well for her.
The issue is that the people who sold it to her don’t own it, and the people of
Georgia are coming back to get their seat.
Russ Spencer: (18:16)
Senator, you have 30 seconds.
Kelly Loeffler: (18:18)
Well, predictably, you’ve just heard more lies from radical liberal Raphael
Warnock, who wants to distract from his own words, calling police officers
gangsters, thugs, bullies, and a threat to our children, saying that you can’t
serve God in the military, for his attacks on Israel. You know, what I’m
focused on is making sure that we continue to deliver relief. I’ve already
delivered relief for 174,000 small businesses, $7 billion for hospitals. And
when the government didn’t move quickly enough, I purchased PPE out of my own
funds, drove it to hospitals. I donated to hospitals, and I donate my salary to
charities across Georgia. I’m here working for Georgia.
Russ Spencer: (18:59)
Reverend Warnock, your turn to ask a second question of the Senator.
Raphael Warnock: (19:03)
Yeah, my question is actually pretty simple. Yes or no, Senator Loeffler, did Donald Trump lose a recent presidential
election?
Kelly Loeffler: (19:15)
You know, President Trump has every right to use every legal recourse
available. In our own state, we’ve seen time and again that we have
investigations that need to be completed. In fact, we’ve run two audits, and
those audits discovered thousands of ballots across several counties here in
Georgia that were not counted. I’ve called for a signature audit. We need to
hold folks accountable involved in these investigations to make sure that they
move more quickly, because everything’s at stake on January 5th for the future
of our country.
Kelly Loeffler: (19:48)
If the Democrats win, they will defund the police. They’ll keep our country
locked down. They want more lockdowns. They’ll raise your taxes in the middle
of a pandemic, and they’ll continue to keep the borders open and support
taxpayer funding for illegal immigrant healthcare. And they’ll defund our
military by 25%. My opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock, would be a
rubber stamp for Chuck Schumer, because he’s bought and paid for by tens of
millions of dollars from out of state, dark liberal money from Chuck Schumer.
Russ Spencer: (20:21)
Reverend Warnock, 30 seconds.
Raphael Warnock: (20:23)
You know, I’ve been moving all across this state, especially going to rural
areas, and when I go to these small towns, they’re surprised that I’m there.
I’m surprised that they’re surprised. They haven’t seen a US senator. And
they’re wondering why their hospitals are closing, why Kelly Loeffler doesn’t think it’s a good idea to make sure that
they have healthcare in the middle of a pandemic. We refused to expand Medicaid
in this state. Nine of our hospitals are closing, have closed. And they’re
wondering who in Washington is looking out for them.
Russ Spencer: (20:58)
Senator Loeffler, you get the final question in this.
Kelly Loeffler: (21:01)
Reverend Warnock, you were arrested for obstructing police in the arrests in
the child abuse investigation. Can you tell me the nature of this child abuse?
Why were the police called? What was your knowledge or involvement in this
incident?
Raphael Warnock: (21:19)
Sure. Here are the facts, and Kelly Loeffler actually
knows them. I was working and trying to make sure that young people who were
being questioned by law enforcement had the benefit of counsel, a lawyer, or a
parent. And the law enforcement officers actually later thanked me for my
cooperation and for helping them. She knows this, but the question is, why is
she doing this? It is because she has made a calculation that after being in
the Senate for 10 months, she does not have a case to be made for why the
people of Georgia should keep her there.
Raphael Warnock: (22:02)
She has been focused on the same thing she’s focused on her whole life,
herself. During the recession, she was helping billionaires like her hide their
money in the Cayman Islands. She dumped millions of dollars of stock, played it
down, and then when she could help ordinary people, she didn’t do it. And the
people of Georgia haven’t seen relief for months. And so she’s spending her
millions of dollars focused on me, because she has no case to make for herself.
I think that’s sad, but that’s no reason for her to keep a Senate seat.
Russ Spencer: (22:34)
You have a rebuttal.
Kelly Loeffler: (22:36)
You’ve just heard radical liberal Raphael Warnock lie again, and not answer a
question, an important question that Georgians deserve to have the answer to.
Unfortunately, this is consistent with his track record of disrespecting law
enforcement. Anyone in Georgia can read the police report as to what happened
in this child abuse investigation at his church camp. You know, Georgians
deserve answers, but they also deserve someone who respects our men and women
of law enforcement. You know, he did call police officers gangsters and thugs.
He said that we should empty the prisons and end cash bail. He won’t keep our
communities safe. That’s what I’m fighting for.
Russ Spencer: (23:13)
Senator, thank you. That does conclude our second round. Again, if you’re just
joining us, this is the runoff debate between candidates for the US Senate seat
to fill the Georgia seat that’s currently held by Senator Loeffler.
We turn back now to the panel to ask questions until we run out of time. As
moderator, actually, I’m going to take the privilege of asking a question to
the two of you to start this round. Reverend, I’ll begin with you. I’m
interested in the number that you’re comfortable with when it comes to
coronavirus relief. Senate Majority Leader McConnell seems to favor something
like $500 billion. The moderates are talking about $908. Two months ago, the
White House suggested $1.8 trillion, and the Democrats wanted more. How much is
required by this moment?
Raphael Warnock: (23:53)
Well, the problem is, for months we haven’t seen any relief, and we can talk
about the numbers. That would be an important part of the conversation. But
when we saw relief, we saw the Shake Shacks of the world and Ruth’s Chris and
the LA Lakers at the front of the line and small businesses at the back of the
line. Our frontline workers, our teachers, our police officers, our health
professionals need PPE. Our workers need relief, and we need to begin even now,
I think, thinking beyond how we survive this pandemic and begin to think about
how we survive on the other end of the pandemic.
Raphael Warnock: (24:38)
While we’re providing relief, I think it’s time for us to start thinking about
an infrastructure program here in this country that will repair our roads and
our bridges, begin to build green energy and green energy jobs, provide jobs
with a livable wage, and position our economy to lead into the future.
Russ Spencer: (24:58)
Can you give me a number?
Raphael Warnock: (25:00)
Look, I think that we should at least make sure that whatever we do, workers
are at the center of that relief.
Russ Spencer: (25:11)
All right. Senator Loeffler, you’re in a position to
vote on this very soon, perhaps. Janet Yellen has said the country can afford
to borrow this money now to get people through this crisis until we’re all
vaccinated, and that if we don’t spend it now, it’s going to cost us more in
terms of job destruction. Do you agree with that, and what would your number
be? What could you live with?
Kelly Loeffler: (25:30)
Well, I was pleased to support all the relief packages this spring when we were
addressing this virus. Over $3 trillion of relief to Americans, $47 billion
that I helped bring right here to Georgia, including $7 billion for hospitals,
174,000 small businesses that I brought $15 billion in PPP funds to, saved 1.5
million jobs. And in fact, I voted twice on the Senate floor in recent months
to support a package that Democrats have blocked, that Nancy Pelosi has now
confirmed that it was playing politics with Americans’ lives and livelihoods.
Kelly Loeffler: (26:06)
She’s held up targeted relief that would have gone to hospitals, to schools, to
families, to small businesses. That’s what I’ve been fighting for. That’s what
the Democrats are holding up. And my opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock,
would be a rubber stamp for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi as they try to use
this pandemic to put the costs on the back of hardworking Georgians in the form
of high taxes, to fundamentally change America. And I’m not going to stand by
and let that happen. I’m going to make sure that we serve our families and our
small businesses right here in Georgia.
Russ Spencer: (26:42)
Thank you. Lisa, it’s your turn to ask a question.
Lisa Rayam: (26:46)
Senator Loeffler, you have called yourself the most
conservative candidate in the race. You’re also the richest US senator, with an
estimated net worth of more than a half billion dollars. How will you use your
wealth and your privilege to improve the life of the average Georgian, the one
who makes minimum wage, and more specifically, minorities who feel you have not
made an attempt to meet them where they are?
Kelly Loeffler: (27:08)
Well, first of all, I have been blessed to live the American dream, and that’s
what I’m fighting for every single day in Washington, because I was born and
raised on a farm. I grew up working in the fields. I started filling out a time
card when I was 11. I waitressed my way through high school and college, and I
was the first in my family to graduate from college. I know what it means to
live paycheck to paycheck. I’ve done it. And I also know I’m blessed to live
the American dream, and that’s why I’m fighting to protect it.
Kelly Loeffler: (27:36)
That’s why conservative values matter, to uphold the Constitution. Our freedoms
are under attack in this country, religious freedom, the right to life, the
Second Amendment. And that’s what helps create opportunity for all Georgians to
live freely. But my opponent, radical liberal Raphael Warnock, is a socialist.
He supports policies that would grow our government, bankrupt hardworking
families with high taxes. The cost of the Green New Deal on every Georgian
family would be $75,000, and taxes would go up $2,000 per family. That’s why
I’m focused on helping every single Georgian succeed.
Lisa Rayam: (28:14)
Have you reached out to minority communities to hear their issues and what
they’re thinking and what they’re feeling?
Kelly Loeffler: (28:20)
Absolutely. I have built my career based on bringing folks together to lift
everyone up. That’s what I’ve done from day one. In fact, I just introduced my
prosperity plan that would bring much needed capital, access to capital to
small businesses and minority communities, because our country has failed in
that area. That’s one way we can help. We can also make sure that we protect
school choice. The Democrats would overturn school choice, trapping children,
their destiny for education, within their ZIP Code. I’m fighting to make sure
that we fund school choice and support kids to live their dream to have that
education. But I’m also making sure we keep taxes low. The jobs act that that
Raphael Warnock would overturn would raise taxes on single moms making $39,000
with two kids. Their taxes would go up 20%. That’s not a way to help
hardworking families here in Georgia succeed.
Russ Spencer: (29:23)
Greg Bluestein, your turn to ask a question.
Greg Bluestein: (29:25)
Yeah, and this next question is for both candidates. We’ll start with Reverend.
Do you plan to accept a coronavirus vaccine when public health experts declare
it to be safe? And if so, how do you plan to persuade the public to take it?
Raphael Warnock: (29:37)
Absolutely. When our health professionals tell us that we have a vaccine that
works and is effective and safe, I will take it. I will encourage the folks who
listen to me, people who are in my church and in the community, to take it. But
also I will try to work hard as a senator to make sure that communities that are
so often marginalized don’t find themselves at the back of the line again, that
they have access.
Raphael Warnock: (30:03)
… Don’t find themselves at the back of the line again, that they have access to
the vaccine, so often they find themselves at the back of the line. And I’ve
spent my life standing up fighting for ordinary people. Kelly Loeffler is trying to misrepresent me because she knows
that she has spent the first 10 months, all 10 months of her tenure thinking
about herself. She’s the unelected Senator of Georgia. She was appointed, the
people of Georgia have been disappointed and they’re looking for somebody who
will stand up for ordinary people. I’ve spent my life doing that as a citizen
and I’ll do it as a U.S. Senator.
Russ Spencer: (30:41)
You have 30 seconds to respond to that before Greg asks his question of you.
Kelly Loeffler: (30:46)
I have spent every single day working for Georgians. I’m 100% about Georgia, that was my calling to public service. I was
blessed to live the American dream and I want Georgians to live theirs. I was a
job creator right here in Georgia. I’m the only person in this race that knows
how to help Georgians. I’ve created jobs, he’s never created a job in his life
but yet he’s advocated for high taxes that will crush small businesses and
families seeking that opportunity. He will take away school choice for kids who
want to have that leg-up and he would play politics just as Nancy Pelosi and
Chuck Schumer have done, holding up relief for political reasons and I think
that’s completely wrong.
Russ Spencer: (31:27)
Greg.
Greg Bluestein: (31:27)
You had a reminder of the question, do you plan to accept the coronavirus
vaccine if public health experts say it’s safe and if so how do you intend to
persuade the public to take it?
Kelly Loeffler: (31:36)
Absolutely. I was with Vice President Pence on Friday at the CDC. I could not
be more proud of what we’ve done this year to deliver relief but also get
cures, vaccines and therapies that are effective. And so I’m going to encourage
my fellow Georgians to stay safe, to get that vaccine, and we have a great plan
to prioritize those communities who need it most and we will make sure that
that’s carried out. But my opponent will continue to play politics with the
pandemic, telling lies and trying to achieve political objectives that would
try to radically change our country at a moment of a pandemic.
Kelly Loeffler: (32:13)
I’m going to continue to fight for every single Georgian to have the freedoms
and the opportunities that they deserve and not be crushed by big government
that would have government-mandated healthcare, that will provide free
healthcare for illegal immigrants, that would raise their taxes to pay for
government healthcare and that would bankrupt Medicare. I’m making sure that
Georgians have the resources they need while we keep our taxes and our
government low and small.
Russ Spencer: (32:39)
Lisa, it’s your turn to ask a question.
Lisa Rayam: (32:41)
Dr. Warnock, Katina Stravalucas is an Atlanta
business owner who had to close her doors because she was unable to pay
thousands in back rent due to the pandemic. President-elect Joe Biden considers
it a top priority to get a generous stimulus package through Congress and you
said you support that. But if you were to speak to Katina, what would you
ensure her that you would do in Washington to help her and other business
owners get the help that they need?
Raphael Warnock: (33:08)
Well, my dad was a small business owner and so I understand the struggle that
small business owners have and I spent time in my church creating a financial literacy
center that helps people to get started. And so I think a good sign of what
someone will do in office is what they were doing before they ever went into
office. And I’ve spent my whole career standing up ordinary people trying to,
in fact, we had a job center in my church contrary to what Senator Loeffler is trying to suggest and I have stood up for
ordinary workers time and time again.
Raphael Warnock: (33:49)
During this pandemic we call people essential workers, we ought to pay them an
essential wage and we ought to provide small business owners like her the assistance
and the support that they need. Kelly Loeffler is out
of touch. She’s thinking about people who are like her, and I’m okay with the
fact that she wants to make money, I just think you shouldn’t use the people’s
seat to enrich yourself. You ought to use the people seat to represent the
people.
Kelly Loeffler: (34:19)
I’d like to respond.
Russ Spencer: (34:20)
Please do.
Kelly Loeffler: (34:22)
Look, these are more lies from radical liberal Raphael Warnock, someone that
has invited Fidel Castro, a murderous dictator into his own church, someone
that has celebrated anti-American anti-Semite Jeremiah Wright. He has also said
that police officers are gangsters and thugs and refused to apologize for it. He
said that you can’t serve God and the military. He has actually made sure that
we know who he is in his own words, those aren’t my words. I’m working hard to
serve Georgians, I’ve served thousands of Georgians and I’m so proud to
represent this state and help Georgians through this challenging time.
Russ Spencer: (34:59)
Reverend, as I understand you were a young men in that church in New York,
would you like to respond to the suggestion you invited him?
Raphael Warnock: (35:05)
Well, there’s a lot at stake right now in the middle of this pandemic and it’s
too bad that she’s engaged in the politics of distraction and division. I never
met him, I never invited him, he has nothing to do
with me. If you want to know who informs me and my sense of how we engage as
people in the economic system you need look no further than Matthew 25, I’m a
Matthew 25 Christian, that’s what I am. I was hungry and you fed me, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was sick and you visited me. Love
your neighbor, and for me that means you don’t get rid of your neighbors healthcare particularly in the middle of a
pandemic.
Russ Spencer: (35:46)
Greg.
Kelly Loeffler: (35:47)
May I respond?
Russ Spencer: (35:48)
Go ahead.
Kelly Loeffler: (35:49)
Look, I’m not going to be lectured by someone that uses the Bible to justify
abortion, to attack our men and women in the military. What’s happening here is
someone who will not own up to their own record of division. He has called on
Americans to repent for their worship of whiteness, that’s divisive, that’s
hurtful. He celebrated Jeremiah Wright anti-Semite, he’s actually called Israel
and apartheid state. That is wrong for America and I’m going to continue to
make sure Georgians understand that that is him in his own words.
Russ Spencer: (36:25)
Reverend, please respond to the abortion issue in particular.
Raphael Warnock: (36:28)
Well, listen, I have a profound reverence for life and an abiding respect for
choice. The question is whose decision is it? And I happen to think that a
patient’s room is too small a place for a woman, her doctor, and the U.S.
government, I think that’s too many people in the room. But those who are
concerned about life, and I certainly am, ought to be focused on the incredibly
high rates of infant mortality and maternal mortality in our country when
compared to other developed nations, that’s something that government can work
on and I’ve been working on it in my entire career.
Russ Spencer: (37:10)
Greg Bluestein.
Greg Bluestein: (37:11)
Senator, President Trump has attacked your closest political ally Governor Kemp
as hapless. He said he was ashamed to support him, he even invited one of your
former rivals to run against him in 2022. Was the president wrong to say that
about the governor and are you concerned his comments could alienate some
Republicans in Georgia ahead of the runoffs?
Kelly Loeffler: (37:30)
Well, the president has the right to pursue every legal recourse to make sure
that this was a free and fair election in Georgia and we know that these audits
have turned up thousands of votes that were initially uncounted and I’ve called
for a signature audit. And the buck stops with the secretary of state. He has
to run an election that Georgians trust because everything’s at stake on
January 5th, the future of the country.
Kelly Loeffler: (37:54)
We can take the path of supporting the American dream of standing the economy
back up and getting through this virus together, or we can take the path of
socialism that radical liberal Raphael Warnock wants to bring to our country,
increasing our taxes, taking away the private insurance that you get at your
jobs and replacing it with government-run healthcare, turning your doctor’s
office into the DMV. He would open our borders, grant amnesty, give free healthcare to illegal immigrants, none of that
will help us solve this pandemic and get the economy back on its feet and get
kids back in school. And I’m not going to stand by and be lectured by someone
that has not done anything for Americans during this pandemic.
Greg Bluestein: (38:33)
Well, was the president wrong when he called those governor’s remarks?
Kelly Loeffler: (38:36)
Look, I appreciate the president’s support of me and I appreciate the
governor’s support of me. They both understand what’s at stake in this
election, that’s why they’re encouraging Georgians to get out and vote for
David Purdue and myself because we’re fighting for Georgians every single day.
We’re using our private sector experience to make sure that Georgians get back
to work and school and church while the Democrats play politics, hold up relief
and try to keep our country locked down, that’s just wrong.
Russ Spencer: (39:06)
Lisa?
Lisa Rayam: (39:07)
Senator Loeffler expounding on that last question,
again President Trump criticized your governor, Governor Brian Kemp. Governor
Kemp appointed you to the Senate. You’ve criticized the election process as
well, so tonight can you tell us where your loyalty lies as you vie to
represent the State of Georgia, is it with Governor Kemp or President Trump?
Kelly Loeffler: (39:31)
Lisa, my loyalties are with Georgia. I had a calling to public service to serve
the people of Georgia. Look, I have lived the American dream, I want to make
sure every Georgian can do that. From going from working on a farm, from
waitressing, being the first in my family to graduate from college I know that
free enterprise is the way to lift everyone up. Not socialism, not high taxes,
not big government, not open borders, not the chaos of defunding the police
that the left wants, not the lockdowns. I’m making sure that Georgians know
what’s at stake on January 5th. Our way of life right here in Georgia will
radically change. As promised by Chuck Schumer now we take Georgia, then we
change America. That’s my number one focus, making sure that Georgians know
what’s at stake. I have served Georgians every single day, it’s been my honor
and I’m going to continue to do that.
Russ Spencer: (40:28)
Well, if everything is at stake on January 5th I would presume that President
Trump has lost, is that what you’re saying?
Kelly Loeffler: (40:34)
What’s at stake is the Senate majority. This will determine who brings bills to
the Senate floor. And under the Republican Senate we’ve been able to deliver $3
trillion of relief to hardworking Americans hard hit by this pandemic, to the
frontline workers, to hospitals, to schools, we have to continue to make sure
that we open up our economy. The Democrats want to keep this locked down, they
want to radically change our country and their agent of change is radical
liberal Raphael Warnock, someone that has said to re-imagine police, that is
endorsed by organizations whose number one goal is to defund the police. We
know the direction the country would take and we’re going to continue to make
sure that Georgians understand that our very way of life here in Georgia and
across the country is under attack by the left.
Russ Spencer: (41:23)
Well, not to belabor the point but all those things that you’re warning about
would not be happening presumably with President Trump as president. It almost
sounds as though you’re conceding that that part of it has been settled and now
it’s important for the Republicans to keep the majority in the Senate to have a
divided government.
Kelly Loeffler: (41:41)
Well, I saw firsthand that the Senate is the shock absorber in this country,
and I saw that firsthand when I got to Washington and the impeachment trial
started. I saw the Russia hoax and how that distracted us from addressing this
virus. The Democrats have played nothing but politics since day one. They’ve
never accepted that President Trump was president. They were distracted from
serving Americans, they were distracted during the pandemic and now they’ve
used the pandemic to try to fundamentally change this country and put the cost
of big government on the back of hardworking Georgians.
Kelly Loeffler: (42:16)
That’s why I’m fighting to make sure that the Republican majority is retained
in the Senate because we are the shock absorber for common sense policies that
bring Americans together, that lift everyone up, that provides for great
educational choices for kids, that stops the radical agenda of the abortion on
demand that Democrats want, that attacks our Second Amendment rights. They want
to take away our guns, they want to tax guns and they want to fundamentally
change America and radical liberal Raphael Warnock is their agent of change.
Russ Spencer: (42:50)
Greg Bluestein, time for your question.
Greg Bluestein: (42:52)
Yeah, Reverend Warnock, if Democrats do win control of the U.S. Senate there’ll
be pressure to increase the size of the U.S. Supreme Court. Would you support
adding more justices to the Supreme Court to offset President Trump’s recent
appointments, and do you think there needs to be term limits for justices on
the bench?
Raphael Warnock: (43:08)
I want to point out that Kelly Loeffler actually
voted to defund the police. She voted against the COPS program, she was one of
only 10 United States senators who did. I don’t think we should defund the
police but we certainly do need criminal justice reform. We need to make sure
that we have an independent review process when civilians die at the hands of
police, we need to make sure that police officers and departments that have a
pattern of misconduct are held accountable. We can do that and celebrate police
at the same time.
Raphael Warnock: (43:48)
And as I move all across the state, Greg, people aren’t asking me about the
courts and whether we should expand the courts. I know that’s an interesting
question for people inside the beltway to discuss, but they’re wondering when
in the world are they going to get some COVID-19 relief?
They haven’t gotten any from Kelly Loeffler in
months, and when she had a chance to stand up for ordinary people she thought
$600 was too much. Meanwhile, she was busy dumping millions of dollars of stock
profiting from a pandemic. Who does that?
Russ Spencer: (44:20)
Can I respond please?
Greg Bluestein: (44:21)
But it will impact people on the ground, so I am wondering if you can answer
the question, do you support expanding the Supreme Court?
Raphael Warnock: (44:28)
I’m really not focused on it and I think that too often the politics in
Washington has been about the politicians. I’m a pastor and so when I think
about these issues I think about the people that I’ve had to stand with in the
critical care units while their loved one was dying or between life and death.
And not only are they concerned about the sickness they’re wondering how in the
world are they going to pay for it? If Kelly Loeffler
has her away, 1.8 million Georgians with preexisting conditions, that means
people with hypertension, people with…
Raphael Warnock: (45:03)
With pre-existing conditions, that means people with hypertension, people who
have diabetes, folks who’ve had a stroke, cancer. People who are recovering
from COVID would not be able to get health care. I think that’s morally wrong,
and it’s my faith that actually informs that. She can’t explain why she wants
to take away people’s health care. She knows that that junk health care plan
that she rolled out, has a loophole in it big enough to drive a Mack truck
through. She can’t explain that and so she’s trying to misrepresent my record.
But the people of Georgia understand, they understand the truth.
Russ Spencer: (45:40)
Senator, 30 seconds, please.
Kelly Loeffler: (45:41)
Yes. Look, you’ve just heard radical liberal Raphael Warnock lie about my
record. I’ve never voted to defund the police. In fact, I’ve voted to support
more funding, that the Democrats, of course, blocked. But he also is
distracting from the fact that he would pack the Supreme Court, that’s
outrageous. Justice Ginsburg herself said, “Nine justices is the right number.”
He would pack the court with radical justices that would legislate from the
bench to fundamentally override the Constitution and our laws in this country,
and Georgians need to know that is wrong for Georgia and our country.
Russ Spencer: (46:20)
Would you like 30 seconds to respond?
Raphael Warnock: (46:22)
Well, I believe in the Constitution. This is the greatest system on the planet
and our country is the only country where my story is even possible. I believe
in our norms, I believe in the separation of powers, and I believe in the
non-violent, unchaotic transition of power. Kelly Loeffler ought to stand with the people of Georgia. The
four greatest words ever spoken of democracy are, “The people have spoken.” The
people have spoken on the Presidential Election and they’re waiting on their
Senator to be focused on them, not the person in the White House.
Russ Spencer: (47:01)
Lisa [Rem 00:47:01] .
Lisa Rayam: (47:02)
Senator Loeffler, given all the police violence we’ve
seen against African-Americans consider this, Courtney Owens of Atlanta is
worried about her son, her father, and her husband, all African-Americans. She
fears for their lives daily. You’ve called the Black Lives Matter movement
fascist, you’ve alienated members of your own basketball team by talking about
that stance, or taking that stance rather. Is that still your view tonight
after seeing and hearing how it hits home with so many people personally, and
what conversation would you sit down and have with Courtney Owens?
Kelly Loeffler: (47:38)
Well, the life of every African-American is important and there is no place for
racism in this country, but there are organizations whose number one goal is to
defund the police, and we know that that hurts minority communities more than
anyone. And we have to stand with our men and women of law enforcement, and I
will always do that. That’s a distraction from the fact that my opponent does
not stand with police officers. He’s endorsed by organizations whose number one
goal is to defund the police. He’s called police officers gangsters, thugs,
bullies, a threat to our children. He’s called for our
prisons to be opened up and emptied out. He’s called for the abolishment of the
cash bail system. Look, he doesn’t care about safety and security in any
community, and I’m fighting to make sure that we have the resources to keep our
communities safe and our police departments well-funded and well-trained.
Russ Spencer: (48:38)
Senator, thank you. Would you like to respond to-
Raphael Warnock: (48:40)
Sure, if I may.
Russ Spencer: (48:41)
Particularly about opening up the jails.
Raphael Warnock: (48:44)
Well, listen. First of all, the land of the free is the mass incarceration
capital of the world, we warehouse 25% of the world’s prisoners. And people on
both sides of the aisle know that our current criminal justice system needs
reform. And we saw that this summer, a multi-racial coalition of conscience,
pouring out into American streets after the tragic deaths of George Floyd, and
Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery,
and so many others. And what did Kelly Loeffler do?
Raphael Warnock: (49:20)
She used her enormous privilege and power as a United States Senator to pick a
fight with the black women on her team who know what it’s like to grow up in a
community where you have to have two talks with your children, one about the
birds and the bees, the birds and the bees, and the other about what happens if
you’re pulled over by police officers. To acknowledge that is not to condemn
police officers in general. I’ve worked with police across the years. I’ve been
invited to speak at their memorial services when they’ve lost their lives in
the line of duty. And she says she is against racism and that racism has no
place, but she welcomed the support of a QAnon
conspiracy theorist, and she sat down with a white supremacist for an
interview. I don’t think she can explain that.
Kelly Loeffler: (50:16)
May I respond?
Russ Spencer: (50:17)
Let me give you a chance to respond to that and then we’ll have one last
question before we get to closing statements, please.
Kelly Loeffler: (50:23)
Well, that’s incredibly sad, these comments that he’s made. First of all,
there’s not a racist bone in my body, I have worked to bring communities
together my entire life. But this is really terrible, coming from someone who
has divided people continually. He’s called on Americans to repent for their
worship of whiteness. He’s called Israel an apartheid state and said that we
should end military assistance. He’s compared Israelis defending themselves
against Palestinians, he’s compared them to birds of prey, and he’s celebrated
Jeremiah Wright, an anti-American, anti-Semite. That’s divisive.
Russ Spencer: (51:02)
Greg Bluestein, one last question.
Greg Bluestein: (51:03)
Senator, should members of Congress be barred from trading stocks?
Kelly Loeffler: (51:10)
Look, what’s at stake here in this election is the American Dream, that’s
what’s under attack. When they attack me for a lie, a left-wing media lie,
conspired with the Democrats by… This is an attack on every single Georgian who
gets up every day to work hard, to provide a better life for their family, who
wants to live the American Dream. It’s a distraction from the real issues, not
the conspiracies in this election. What’s at stake is the future of our
country, our freedoms to live the American Dream, to not be taxed into
bankruptcy, to not have to go onto government health care, government-run
health care. They want to take away the health care that 180 million Americans
rely on through their work. That’s why I’ve introduced a health care plan to
make it more affordable, not government-run health care that would bankrupt
those that rely on Medicare. And I’m going to continue to fight to keep our
country free, to keep our borders secure, and make sure that our communities
are safe and secure.
Russ Spencer: (52:15)
Reverend, you have an opportunity to respond.
Raphael Warnock: (52:18)
Well, the Senator can’t explain why the people of Georgia should send her back to
the Senate. She’s continued to misrepresent my record, she’s lied, not only on
me, but on Jesus. Everybody’s clear about what that passage is about in
Matthew. You can’t serve two masters and she should have listened to the
lesson. Maybe she wouldn’t be so focused on herself, she’d be thinking about
the people she’s supposed to represent. I intend to center the concerns of the
ordinary people that I’ve been running into all across this state, particularly
in rural Georgia.
Russ Spencer: (53:02)
Reverend, thank you.
Kelly Loeffler: (53:03)
I’d like to respond.
Russ Spencer: (53:04)
We’re out of time. I apologize, but you’re going to have a chance for a closing
statement here in a moment. That is all the time we have for questions. The
candidates now have 60 seconds for a closing statement. Senator Loeffler, you get to go first.
Kelly Loeffler: (53:15)
Well, thank you to everyone who tuned in to this important debate. You can see
what’s at stake. There are two visions for our country, mine, the American
dream, my opponent, socialism. This is what’s on the ballot January 5th, the
American Dream. I was born and raised on a farm, I grew up working in the
fields, I built my career, I became a job creator right here in Georgia, and I
have been blessed to live the American Dream. But Chuck Schumer said it best,
“Now we take Georgia, then we change America.” They would increase our taxes,
open our borders, socialize our health care, and my opponent, radical, liberal
Raphael Warnock is his agent of change, someone that has falsely used the Bible
to attack our military. The Bible never said that we serve, that you can’t
serve God and in the military. He’s attacked our police officers, he wants to
fundamentally change America into a socialist country. Well, I’m not going to
let that happen. I’m working hard for every single Georgian. I’m Kelly Loeffler, I’m asking for your vote on January 5th. Thank
you and may God bless America.
Russ Spencer: (54:19)
Thank you, Senator. Reverend Warnock, your closing statement.
Raphael Warnock: (54:22)
Thank you so much and thanks to everybody who tuned in tonight, I’m Raphael
Warnock. I’m one of 12 children in my family and I’m number 11, the first
college graduate. Listen, these are dark and difficult times and amidst the
thick fog of this pandemic and the economic turndown, even during this season
of joy, it’s hard for people to find joy. I think about my dad in a moment like
this, God bless his memory. He used to wake me up every morning at dawn and
said, “Get ready, get dressed, put your shoes on.” It
was dawn, so it was morning, but it was still dark. It’s dark right now, but
morning is on the way. It’s our job Georgia, to put our shoes on and get ready,
because there are those who are engaged in the politics of division. They have
no vision, so they engage in division. Tomorrow is the last day to register.
Tell everybody you know to make a vote plan because health care is on the ballot,
workers are on the ballot, voting rights is on the ballot, criminal justice
reform is on the ballot. And if you give me the honor of representing you in
the U.S. Senate-
Russ Spencer: (55:33)
We have to go, sir.
Raphael Warnock: (55:33)
I’ll be thinking about Georgia every single day. Thank you so much.
Russ Spencer: (55:35)
Thank you very much, Reverend and Senator. Before we conclude this debate, everyone
involved in tonight’s production sends their condolences to the Loeffler campaign and to the family of staff member
Harrison Deal, who was killed in a car accident on Friday. Our thoughts are
with the family, they’re with you. We’re very, very sorry. We’d like to remind
voters that Election Day is Tuesday, January 5th. Absentee voting has already
begun in Georgia and early voting in Georgia begins December 14th. Thanks to
the candidates and to the panel for participating in this debate, well done. Thanks
to the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting for arranging this
debate. I’m Russ Spencer with Fox 5 in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us for
the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young…
ATTACHMENT FIVE – from Rev transcripts
Ossoff (12/6/20)
Russ Spencer: (00:00)
-tuning in, welcome. I’m Russ Spencer, evening anchor for FOX 5 in Atlanta, and
you are watching the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young
Debate Series. We are broadcasting from the studio of Georgia Public
Broadcasting in Atlanta, and we welcome viewers from across the state and the
country. This is the runoff debate for the US Senate seat currently held by
Senator David Perdue of Georgia. The candidates are, in alphabetical order,
Democrat Jon Ossoff. He is CEO of Insight TWI, a
media production company that investigates corruption, organized crime, and war
crimes for international news organizations.
Russ Spencer: (00:34)
Republican David Perdue has served in the US Senate since 2015. Before his
election, he sat on the board of five major corporations and co-founded Perdue
Partners, a global trading company. Senator Perdue declined to participate in this
debate and is represented by an empty podium.
Russ Spencer: (00:51)
Now let’s meet our panel. Greg Bluestein is a political reporter with the
Atlanta Journal Constitution. Lisa Rayam is Host and
Senior Producer of NPR’s Morning Edition on WABE in Atlanta.
Russ Spencer: (01:04)
Well, let’s get started. The topics were not shared with Mr. Ossoff before the debate. The debate will be divided into
three rounds. Each round, he will have 60 seconds to answer his question. To
start the debate, Mr. Ossoff will be asked two
questions by each of the panelists. Greg, you get the first question.
Greg Bluestein: (01:22)
Yeah. Mr. Ossoff, thanks for being here. The state is
experiencing another coronavirus surge, and over the weekend, Georgia set a
single-day record for new cases of the disease. What should the federal
government be doing right now to contain the virus, and if public health
experts support a new lockdown, would you endorse the idea?
Jon Ossoff: (01:38)
Good afternoon, Greg. Thank you for the question. Thank you to the Atlanta
Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting for hosting us. This is a time of
incredible pain and difficulty for so many Americans. We’ve lost more than a
quarter of a million Americans to this virus. Lives have been turned upside
down, jobs, businesses, homes, and livelihoods lost. At the root of our
government’s failure to respond properly to this virus has been a disregard for
public health expertise.
Jon Ossoff: (02:10)
So I will be listening carefully in the US Senate to the advice of the
leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based right here
in Georgia, and I will be working to make sure that they have the resources
they need to contain the spread of this virus, that our hospital systems, our
clinics, our school systems, doctors and nurses like my wife, Alisha, who got
sick in July fighting this virus, helping save lives, they have been the
heroes. Politicians have let us down. We need to take our cues from the public
health experts.
Greg Bluestein: (02:41)
A quick followup, if they do call for a new lockdown,
would you be supportive of it?
Jon Ossoff: (02:45)
I will take my cues from the leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, and let me be very clear on this. I will listen to the public
health experts, and if they recommend that more aggressive mitigation measures
are necessary to save lives, it would be foolish for politicians to ignore
their advice. The reason that our country has lagged the entire world at the
efficacy of our response to this virus, the reason that we are losing thousands
of people per day to this virus is because of the arrogance of politicians like
David Perdue, so arrogant that he disregarded public health expertise and so
arrogant that he’s not with us here today to answer questions.
Jon Ossoff: (03:27)
So if I might, my message for the people of our state at this moment of crisis
is your senator feels entitled to your vote. Your senator is refusing to answer
questions and debate his opponent, because he believes he shouldn’t have to. He
believes this Senate seat belongs to him. The Senate seat belongs to the
people. With early voting beginning on December 14th, I want to urge everybody
to make a plan to vote. David Perdue has been getting rich in office, and
instead of taking public health expertise and guidance from the CDC and getting
that to the people and implementing it in policy, he was buying up shares in
manufacturers of vaccines and medical equipment, and he’s not here because he’s
afraid he may incriminate himself in this debate.
Russ Spencer: (04:14)
Lisa, it’s your turn to ask a question.
Lisa Rayam: (04:16)
Mr. Ossoff, with that said, an investigation into
Senator Perdue allegedly dumping stocks at the start of the pandemic did not
result in any charges, but you still call him a crook. He denies that, and the
back and forth continues. Many think your focus now should be more on how
Georgians are dealing with the loss of financial security, their 401ks, their
stock, their homes. So if elected, how are you planning to specifically help
Georgians?
Jon Ossoff: (04:45)
Well, in order to address this crisis, as we listen to public health expertise
in order to contain the spread of the virus, we have got to rush direct
financial relief to families and businesses. I mean, it is absolutely
astonishing that the United States Senate since midsummer has not passed any
additional direct economic relief for the American people. They should be in
emergency session right now, Lisa, getting help to people who are struggling,
families who can’t make the house payment, the car payment, afford
prescriptions. Someone’s lost their job, small businesses suffering.
Jon Ossoff: (05:25)
I think about Marilyn Crimes, a young woman impressed in Georgia. She runs
Mom’s Kitchen. It’s a family business. They have been struggling for months.
Had to close down their main dining room, had to shut down their catering
business, and where is Congress? Where is David Perdue?
Jon Ossoff: (05:41)
To the question about the senator’s financial misconduct, here’s why I think
it’s so relevant. First of all, it is a matter of ethics and wrongdoing, and
whether or not, respectfully, Lisa, our senator has yet been indicted for a
federal crime, his blatant abuse of his power and privilege to enrich himself
is disgraceful. But even more disgraceful is that while he has been enriching
himself in office and buying shares in vaccine producers and medical equipment,
he’s been blocking relief for ordinary people who are suffering.
Russ Spencer: (06:14)
But you concede his point that he has been cleared by the SEC, the Department
of Justice, right?
Jon Ossoff: (06:19)
I don’t concede that point whatsoever. I haven’t seen one shred of evidence
that David Perdue has presented that any federal agency has cleared him. What I
observe is that he has not yet been indicted for obvious financial misconduct,
and Senator Perdue, if you’re watching, if you have any evidence, documentation
that federal investigators have cleared you, have exonerated you, as you claim,
you should present it.
Jon Ossoff: (06:45)
But see, Russ, this is why David Perdue is not here today. He can’t defend the
indefensible. What he is doing is rubbing it in our noses that he’s been using
his office to enrich himself and that he’s getting away with it. The standard
for our elected officials must be higher than merely evading prosecution. Lisa,
picking up on the point you made, all year, Senator Perdue has been telling the
public and members of the press that he doesn’t control his own stock
portfolio, that he doesn’t order his own stock trades, but they empaneled a
federal grand jury subpoenaing banking documents that found he does order his
own stock trades.
Jon Ossoff: (07:25)
So for all of the families here in Georgia who right now have credit cards
maxed out, the small business owners who are worried they may have to be
evicted from their premises, who are operating at 20 or 30% capacity, the
families that desperately need direct financial relief, our senator was
enriching himself in office, and he opposed even the first round of $1,200
stimulus checks. I mean, that’s like a cartoonish abuse of power, to enrich
oneself while opposing relief for people who need it.
Lisa Rayam: (07:59)
So if you head to Washington, what would a solid stimulus aid package look
like?
Jon Ossoff: (08:05)
I think it’s very clear. I think it’s been clear for months. Point one,
stimulus checks directly for the people. I mentioned Senator Perdue opposed
even the first round of stimulus checks. Those should have been sent eight
months ago. They should be sent tomorrow. Direct relief for small businesses.
The PPP program has not been reauthorized since the summertime. It needs to be
reauthorized. It needs to be expanded, and checks need to be put in place to
make sure that larger firms are not exploiting that program and small and
black-owned businesses are not being denied access to it. We need to get
significant financial support to our public health infrastructure, to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to clinics and hospitals, the US
public health service, to nursing homes and hospice facilities.
Jon Ossoff: (08:54)
We need to invest in a longer term economic recovery, because this short-term
direct relief will help relieve some of the immediate pain, but we need a
significant infrastructure and jobs package to invest in long-term economic
recovery. I just want to reemphasize again, early voting begins on December
14th. You know who has been hit the hardest by this virus has been George’s
black community. Where the death and the suffering and the financial distress
have been so acute, where is Senator Perdue for the African-American community
here in Georgia? Where is Senator Perdue for those who are suffering and need
relief? He’s been on his private island, trading stocks. We need to make a plan
to vote with early voting beginning on December 14th.
Russ Spencer: (09:38)
All right. I want to get in Greg’s second question. Before I do, I want to say
that I misspoke at the outset. You have 90 seconds for your answers, which has
not been an issue so far, but proceed, Greg.
Greg Bluestein: (09:47)
Yeah, I want to ask a followup.
Jon Ossoff: (09:48)
Sure.
Greg Bluestein: (09:49)
President Elect Biden has said his top priority is getting a generous stimulus
package through Congress. You’ve called for direct stimulus checks to jumpstart
the economy. But what should those payments look like, and what limits should
be imposed to ensure that they don’t go to people who shouldn’t merit getting
them?
Jon Ossoff: (10:05)
I think we shouldn’t get bogged down in the details. I think that we should
rush immediate direct financial relief to the American people, and it should
have been done months ago. This is another reason that this election is so
important. We all remember what happened when Mitch McConnell, the Republican
leader in the Senate, did everything in his power to obstruct President Obama
at every turn, purely out of spite and partisanship. Paralysis like that is
untenable in a crisis such as this one. If we don’t win these two Senate races,
they’re going to try to do to the Biden-Harris administration exactly what they
tried to do to President Barack Obama. It will be gridlock, government
shutdowns, bitter partisanship, obstructionism as far
as the eye can see.
Jon Ossoff: (11:03)
People need help now. They needed help eight months ago. Our senator has been
absent, is absent, doesn’t think he needs to be here, answering questions, doesn’t think he needs to be in Washington, passing relief
for the people. Our senator, who told us that COVID-19 was no deadlier than the
flu, will be obstructing the efforts of this incoming administration to get
relief to people and contain the spread of this virus. It’s why we have to make
a plan to vote, and I’m going to keep saying it all night, that early voting
begins on December 4th.
Russ Spencer: (11:38)
Mr. Ossoff, thank you. That concludes the first
portion of the debate. For those just tuning in, this is one of two runoff
debates for Georgia’s US Senate seats. This is normally the round where
candidates question each other. Since Senator Perdue declined to participate,
Jon Ossoff, you may now ask the question that you
would have asked him and answer that question yourself. You have 90 seconds.
Jon Ossoff: (12:01)
I appreciate that. Well, it’s a strange situation to be asking a question of a
sitting United States senator who is not here to debate as he asks for the votes
of the people to be reelected. Senator Perdue I suppose doesn’t feel that he
can handle himself in debate or perhaps is concerned that he may incriminate
himself in debate, both of which, in my opinion, are disqualifying for a US
senator seeking reelection.
Jon Ossoff: (12:37)
He may not wish to be asked questions, for example, about his trades in Regions
Bank while he championed legislation to benefit the firm or his trading of
defense contractor stocks, while he directed taxpayer dollars to them. But
whatever the reason that Senator Perdue is not with us today, I think what I
would ask him is why he continues to oppose $1,200 stimulus checks for the
American people at this moment of crisis, why he fought against them in the
first place, and why he isn’t in Washington right now, championing direct
financial relief, stimulus checks directly for an American people who are
suffering. If I had the opportunity to ask the senator a question, if the
senator were not too much of a coward to debate in public, then that’s what I
would ask him.
Russ Spencer: (13:27)
All right. Thank you. That concludes our second round in this runoff debate
between candidates for US Senate in Georgia. Republican Senator David Perdue
declined to participate and is represented, as you see, by an empty podium. The
panel will now ask questions to Mr. Ossoff until we
run out of time. Greg, you get the first question.
Greg Bluestein: (13:44)
Yeah. I want to switch gears a little bit. You’ve talked about new investment
in clean energy to address climate change, but how would you pay for your
proposals?
Jon Ossoff: (13:53)
Well, Congress would appropriate the funds necessary to support massive
investment in clean energy infrastructure. Look, we have got to protect our
planet. Georgia is already suffering from the effects of climate change,
Hurricane Michael, which wiped out our orchards, coastal cities that are having
to pay huge sums to prepare themselves for worsening tropical storms, for
flooding events, for high-wind events. I think it’s
young people in particular who recognize that the threat to our planet must be
addressed, and the solution is clear. Congress must make massive investments in
clean energy as part of an overall infrastructure and jobs program necessary to
recover from this current financial crisis.
Jon Ossoff: (14:42)
We can make Georgia the leading producer of clean energy in the American South.
We can make America the number one producer of clean energy in the world, and
we should. We can reclaim America’s place as the world’s leading innovator, and
at the same time, we can reduce carbon emissions. We can listen to scientists.
Just as the politicians have disregarded the science on COVID-19, they’ve been
ignoring the science on climate change. Young people are mobilizing to vote,
because young people recognize that the future of our planet is at stake. So for
the whole TikTok family out there, make a plan to
vote, with early voting beginning on December 14th.
Russ Spencer: (15:22)
All right. Lisa, your turn to ask a question.
Lisa Rayam: (15:24)
Mr. Ossoff, I’d like to talk about immigration.
Jon Ossoff: (15:25)
Sure.
Lisa Rayam: (15:26)
Immigration issues, DACA recently have received a lot of attention during the
Trump administration. Your mother was an immigrant. There are thousands of
immigrants here in Georgia and here in the Atlanta area that are living in a gray
area, for so many different reasons. If elected, what will you do in Washington
that will specifically help those here at home?
Jon Ossoff: (15:48)
Well, we’ve got to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and I know it’s
something that candidates and elected officials have been saying and talking
about for a decade and a half. It’s what we need, comprehensive immigration
reform, which provides a path to legal status for the undocumented who
otherwise follow the law, which secures our borders.
Jon Ossoff: (16:08)
By the way, border security does not mean border brutality. Senator Perdue is
complicit in a policy of ripping babies from their mothers at our southern
border. My business investigates war crimes and violations of human rights. If
that happened in an area of active armed conflict, it would be a war crime.
Jon Ossoff: (16:39)
My mother came to this country, as you mentioned, as an immigrant alone, when
she was 23 years old, because she believed that America represented hope,
opportunity, inclusion. We do need secure borders. We also need to keep our
soul as a people and uphold our commitments to basic human rights. We can have
an immigration policy that puts American workers first, that provides that path
to legal status, that protects Dreamers, secures our borders, and doesn’t
violate the human rights of innocent people seeking a better life or fleeing
persecution.
Russ Spencer: (17:17)
Greg?
Greg Bluestein: (17:18)
More money has been spent on this race in the past five or so weeks than any
other in Georgia history. You’ve pledged to the overhaul campaign finance
system if elected, but like the other Senate candidates, you’re raising lots of
money from outside the state and getting help from outside groups. How do you
reconcile those competing facts, and what sort of campaign finance limits
should be in place right now?
Jon Ossoff: (17:38)
Well, look, the number one impediment to getting things done for the people is
corruption in our political system. We were just discussing climate change and
environmental policy. Why is it that it’s so difficult? Despite there being
overwhelming support from people of all political backgrounds, despite there
being a scientific consensus on the climate, why is it so difficult to take
action?
Jon Ossoff: (18:02)
The problem isn’t even Democrats versus Republicans. The problem is the power
of the fossil fuel industry, which exploits our corrupt campaign finance system
to buy the allegiance of politicians like David Perdue, because the same
senator who’s not with us here today, who hasn’t held a single public town hall
meeting in six years, he openly sells access for corporate PAC checks. He sells
four meetings a year and a retreat on a private island for a $7,500 corporate
PAC check, and those oil and gas companies, which don’t want action on the
climate, buy his time and by his votes.
Jon Ossoff: (18:44)
Let’s take healthcare. Why is it that we can’t pass legislation to make
prescription drugs affordable, to get everybody covered with great insurance?
Why does David Perdue and politicians like him, they’re a dime a dozen, vote to
rip care away from people with preexisting conditions? It’s because of
corruption, the power of the insurance companies, and the answer is to ban dark
money, overturn Citizens United, and get rid of corporate PACS and stop lobbyists
from being able to make political contributions.
Russ Spencer: (19:13)
Lisa, your turn to ask a question.
Lisa Rayam: (19:14)
Mr. Ossoff, you referred to the presidential election
and specifically here in Georgia. I think what we’ve learned, a lot of people
have learned from this election cycle is that there is a clear divide in this
country and here in Georgia. How would you play a specific role in restoring
the faith lost in democracy?
Jon Ossoff: (19:33)
That’s a great question, Lisa, and it’s perfectly following the previous
question, because when we think about the Trump presidency and what Donald
Trump represented, that kind of leadership really only grows when there’s
already been a destruction of faith in our political institutions, in our
political system.
Jon Ossoff: (19:57)
For decades now, working people in this country have been forced into financial
precarity. Wages for the middle class have been
declining. Congress refuses to raise the minimum wage to $15, factories closing
because of trade deals that are written not to help ordinary people, but to
help folks like David Perdue, who bragged about how he spent most of his career
outsourcing jobs, deliver more money to their shareholders. The growth of
corporate power in our political system has meant that ordinary working people
are cut out of a deal, and this corruption is not a problem that taints just
one political party. It’s a problem that taints the entire political system.
Jon Ossoff: (20:44)
We don’t have to live in a country where can just barely make ends meet, where
wages decline for 40 years, where the possibility of a bad diagnosis raises the
specter of bankruptcy. We can deliver government that works for the people, all
people, health, jobs, and justice for the people. That’s why folks need to make
a plan to vote, with early voting starting on December 14th.
Russ Spencer: (21:12)
All right. Greg Bluestein, you have the final question in this round.
Greg Bluestein: (21:15)
Yeah. The movement for racial justice awakened many Georgians to persistent
issues of inequality, but Washington’s gridlocked. So what can you actually do
from the US Senate, even if Democrats have control of the Chamber next year to
help solve it?
Jon Ossoff: (21:29)
Criminal justice reform is one of the urgent moral issues of our time. Our constitution
already guarantees equal protection under the law, but when Ahmaud
Arbery is shot to death in broad daylight in the
street, on camera in Glenn County, Georgia and because he is a young black man
local authorities look the other way, that makes a mockery of equal protection
under the law. Let me just be really candid about this. Growing up as a white
man in Georgia, I have never known what it means to fear I could lose my life
or face false accusation or miscarriage of justice just because of who I am.
But I do know that that is a daily fear for black people across this country.
Jon Ossoff: (22:15)
Congressman Lewis, when I worked for him, he taught me about the power of the
people to fight for justice, and now it’s time for all of us, we, the people,
to fight for justice. We can pass a new Civil Rights Act to advance criminal
justice reform. We can establish national standards for the use of force. We
can ensure true accountability for police brutality and for racial profiling.
We can make equal justice under the law a reality in America by passing a new
Civil Rights Act, but only if we vote. I’ve been saying it all night, because
in some ways, it’s the most important message of the evening. Make a plan to
vote with early voting beginning December 14th so we can secure equal justice
for all.
Russ Spencer: (23:03)
That is all the time we have for questions. Lisa Rayam,
Greg Bluestein, thank you very much for your part in this. Mr. Ossoff, you have 90 seconds for a closing statement.
Jon Ossoff: (23:12)
I appreciate it. I appreciate you all for putting this together and doing a
great job moderating the discussion. I regret that someone who is supposed to
be a public servant didn’t join us. I truly regret that we haven’t had the
opportunity to debate the issues, because the people deserve it. Look, people
expect me to come to a debate like this and criticize David Perdue, but it
shows an astonishing arrogance and sense of entitlement for George’s senior US
senator to believe he shouldn’t have to debate at a moment like this in our
history.
Jon Ossoff: (23:47)
But ultimately, this is so much bigger than David Perdue. This is about what
kind of country America can become. We are living at a moment of difficulty, of
tragedy, but also of limitless opportunity. We can pass legislation to secure
equal justice for all under the law. We can get out of this health crisis by
empowering doctors and scientists. We can rush short-term financial relief to
working families and businesses, and then we can pass an infrastructure and
jobs package to create economic opportunity that benefits all communities. We
can raise the minimum wage to $15. We can make Georgia the leading producer of
clean energy and tackle the climate crisis.
Jon Ossoff: (24:34)
We have the chance to do all of these things. We should feel excited about
that, optimistic about America’s future. But to get any of that done, we’ve got
to vote. So I humbly ask for the opportunity to serve this state. I may not
always vote the way you want me to, but you can rest assured I will come to
forums like this one and answer questions in open, unlike this man, because
that’s what you deserve from someone who serves you. Thank you so much for
having me.
Russ Spencer: (25:02)
Thank you for your closing statement, and thank you for being here tonight. We
appreciate it very much, and that concludes our program. We’d like to remind
voters that election day is Tuesday, January 5th.
Absentee voting has already begun in Georgia, and early voting in Georgia
begins on December 14th. That’s a week from tomorrow. Thanks to John Ossoff and the panel for participating in this program, and
thanks to the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting for arranging
this debate. I’m Russ Spencer with FOX 5 in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us
for the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate
Series. Have a good night. We’ll be back here at seven o’clock with the next
debate.