Key Republican figures expressed concern about their chances of victory in Georgia's Senate runoff elections, according to details of a conference call leaked to The Washington Post.
In a call with GOP strategist Karl Rove and party donors, Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler said that an "anti-Trump vote" had cost them in the presidential election.
Republican Todd Young said he was "assuming the worst" about the party's chances of holding the Senate.
Participants on the call also acknowledged it was likely Trump had lost the election to Biden.
Victories for challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would give the Democrats a slender majority in the Senate.
Republican Senators in Georgia, where runoff elections in January will determine who controls the Senate, expressed their growing concern that they will be defeated on January 5 and described President Trump as a political liability, according to details of a private conference call leaked to The Washington Post.
The report reveals conversations between Republican senators, Republican strategist Karl Rove, and party donors about the strategy for defeating Democrat challengers early next year, citing an anonymous source with knowledge of what was said.
Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffle suggested that despite Trump's continued refusal to accept defeat in this month's presidential election, the January runoff elections would take place with President-elect Joe Biden on his way to the White House, according to The Washington Post.
Perdue, who is being challenged by Democrat candidate Jon Ossoff, said maximizing Republican turnout would be particularly hard "this year, given that President Trump, it looks like now, may not be able to hold out."
However, Perdue said they may be better poised to hold the seats due to the absence of the "anti-Trump" that was present in the presidential election.
"I'm talking about people that may have voted for Biden but now may come back and vote for us because there was an anti-Trump vote in Georgia," he reportedly said.
"And we think some of those people, particularly in the suburbs, may come back to us. And I'm hopeful of that."
However, Republican Senator Todd C. Young warned that "in fact, I'm assuming the worst" about their prospects of holding the seats.
"I'm assuming the worst but hoping for the best. And the worst-case scenario is that we have a Democrat in the White House, that we have Nancy Pelosi still with her hands on that speaker's gavel, which appears almost a certainty," Young said.
A Biden campaign source told Business Insider they were hopeful that Trump's behaviour since losing the election to Biden would help the Democrats in Georgia, saying: "Trump's madness is helping interest in our Senate candidates."
The Republican figures on the call also expressed concern about turnout as well as Georgia's changing demographics, fueled by younger, more liberal voters in state capital, Atlanta City, according to the report.
"They changed, dramatically, the face of the electorate in Georgia. Many of these new voters are from California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and they're not of the conservative persuasion," Perdue reportedly said, adding: "This is really not about messaging. It's not about persuasion in my race. It's more about getting the vote out."
Loeffler, who risks being unseated by Democrat challenger Raphael Warnock, also said that turnout would be key to deciding the races, reportedly telling others on the call the "question is about the Democrat turnout."
Victories for both Ossoff and Warnock would give Democrats control of the Senate, thanks to Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris having the key vote in a split chamber. It would also give Democrats control of the White House, House of Representatives, and the Senate, which in theory would give President-elect Biden greater freedom to enact domestic policy.
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