Donald Trump had one task he needed to accomplish at his first rally appearance since he lost the US presidential contest – boost Republican chances in a crucial run-off election next month.
Instead, the outgoing president spent most of Saturday evening repeating baseless claims of election fraud, attacked members of his own party and refused to acknowledge that come next month, he will be leaving the White House.
“They cheated and they rigged our presidential election but we will still win it,” Trump said.
“And they’re going to try and rig this election too,” he told the crowd, who chanted “four more years!”
Appearing at a rally in Georgia, Republicans had hoped Trump would use his time to boost senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Republicans need one victory to maintain their Senate majority, and Democrats need a Georgia sweep to force a 50-50 Senate and position Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking majority vote.
The races will determine which party controls the US Senate. Democrats, who already have the majority in the House of Representatives, need to win both seats to control the Senate.
If Republicans win one seat, they will retain their majority and be able to block much of Biden’s legislative agenda, Reuters reports.
Yet as soon as Air Force One landed in the state, it quickly became apparent Trump’s aim was to air his own complaints and stoke baseless doubts about the conduct of last month’s vote, rather than boost his party.
The president repeated his attacks on Republicans who have refused to back his claims, including Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp.
In a move unprecedented in modern US history, the Trump team has tried, without success, to get Republican-controlled legislatures in battleground states won by Biden to set aside the results and declare Trump the winner.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump phoned Kemp and pressured the governor on Twitter to take further steps to help him overturn the election results. Kemp has refused to do the president’s bidding.
In a tweet, Kemp said Trump also asked him to order an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in his state, a step he is not empowered to take because he has no authority to interfere in the electoral process on Mr Trump’s behalf.
Trump, though, vented his frustrations with on Twitter and at the rally. “Your people are refusing to do what you ask,” he complained, as if speaking with Kemp.
“What are they hiding? At least immediately ask for a Special Session of the Legislature. That you can easily, and immediately, do.”
At the rally, he took aim once again at Kemp, saying he could assure him victory “if he knew what the hell he was doing”.
At the rally Trump also pulled out a piece of paper and read a list of his electoral achievements, including falsely asserting he won Georgia and the White House, PA Media reports.
Biden took the state by 12,670 votes and won a record 81 million votes nationally, but Trump continued to reiterate his unsubstantiated claims of fraud, despite his own administration assessing the election to have been conducted without any major issues.
Before the rally, Matt Towery, a former Georgia Republican legislator who is now a political analyst and pollster, said Trump could help if he praised the candidates, but warned:
“If he talks about them for 10 minutes and spends the rest of the time telling everyone how terrible Brian Kemp is, then it will only exacerbate things.”