Trump says he’ll ‘fight like hell’ to stay president as Biden warns of high stakes ahead of Georgia Senate races
- The outgoing US president was in Georgia to support Republican Senate candidates, but spent much of his speech complaining about his election loss
- Without victories in both run-off elections, US president-elect Biden will face a Republican-controlled Senate, making it harder to pass major legislation
With mounting desperation, Donald Trump declared on Monday night he would “fight like hell” to hold on to the presidency and appealed to Republican lawmakers to reverse his election loss to Joe Biden when they convene this week to confirm the Electoral College vote.
Electoral voters won by President-elect Biden are “not gonna take this White House!” he shouted as supporters cheered at an outdoor rally in Georgia. Trump’s announced purpose for the trip was to boost Republican Senate candidates in Tuesday’s run-off election, but he spent much of his speech complaining bitterly about his election loss – which he insists he won “by a lot.”
At an earlier, separate rally Biden thanked voters for making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia in three decades and urged his supporters to show up one more time for the Senate run-offs that will determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill and the reach of his administration.
“Folks, this is it. This is it. It’s a new year, and tomorrow can be a new day for Atlanta, for Georgia and for America,” Biden said at a drive-in rally in downtown Atlanta. “Unlike any time in my career, one state – one state – can chart the course, not just for the four years but for the next generation.”
The president-elect, campaigning with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, was one of a number of political leaders, including Vice-President Mike Pence, who descended on Georgia on Monday for an eleventh-hour turnout push.