On Friday, Trump called the Republican-controlled Senate ‘pathetic’ for failing to comply with the $ 2,000 stimulus tests and other demands he sought to bring with it, after the Senate voted to veto the $ 2 defense policy bill. 741 billion.
“Now they want to give people plagued by the China virus $ 600, rather than the $ 2,000 they so desperately need,” Trump tweeted, referring to Senate Republicans. “Not fair, or clever!”
Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have indeed jumped on the president’s demand to increase pandemic benefits by $ 1,400. This is an important closing argument for them – especially on the heels of the Republicans of the Senate blocking a stand-alone bill to increase the checks.
“If David Perdue was serious about supporting $ 2,000 checks for the people, he would put maximum pressure on Mitch McConnell to approve that legislation now,” Ossoff told reporters on Thursday after an early-morning New Year’s Eve campaign.
Warnock led an hour south of Atlanta on Friday, reiterating Trump’s criticism of GOP leaders, calling them “disgraceful.”
‘We should have passed relief months ago. That is what happens when politics is about the politicians, ”Warnock said. ‘It’s a lot of maneuvering between politicians. And they have a kind of privilege that enables them to do that. ”
Democrats believe their best chance of getting more money for coronavirus help from Biden in the White House depends on the party that controls the senate, as GOP leaders have not yet committed to another round of funding. Ossoff and Warnock are laser-focused on measures to alleviate coronavirus, and Trump’s plea – along with Senate opposition Mitch McConnell’s resistance to the idea – has put Loeffler and Perdue in a difficult position.
Senate Democrats held the New Year’s Day during the session because they delayed an attempt to overthrow Trump’s veto of the annual defense bill, and gave them a platform a few days before the end of the case to highlight the issue – as well McConnell’s opposition to inflating the checks.
‘[Americans] will know that leader McConnell and the Republican majority prevented them from getting the checks, simply and easily, ‘Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) said Friday.
Some Republicans are worried that these attacks will break through. A GOP agent who granted anonymity to judge the case honestly said that some in the GOP ‘did not notice that every ad the Democrats offer is about Republicans who are against direct controls. ‘
Loeffler and Perdue said earlier this week that they support the $ 2,000 increase, after Trump insisted on it and the Democrats used it as a wedge section in the two races. They also blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for refusing Republicans’ offers of coronavirus aids in the run-up to the presidential election.
Other Republicans do not think the case harms the campaigns, especially since Trump does not attack Loeffler and Perdue directly. In contrast, Trump on Friday called on the South Dakota government, Kristi Noem, to present a primary challenge against Senator John Thune, the Republican of the Senate no. And with 3 million votes already cast in the early voting period of the state, little can be done at this late stage to persuade voters, say the Republicans, focusing rather on the outcome of the voting events in the last days. According to a person familiar with the discussion, Loeffler spoke to Trump earlier Friday to reiterate support for the checks.
Some Republicans argue that the issue will simply not resonate at this point, with millions of early votes cast and more than $ 500 million spent defining the race. Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist who monitored the legal aid legislation, said the checks would be a “trendy culprit” if Republicans went down Tuesday, but doubt it had a major impact late in the game.
“Whatever the downside risk, the idea that this race would be a bad blow for the GOP if they bite the half billion dollar bullet and pass bigger checks is very questionable,” Donovan said. Democrats have done an impressive job of casting their ballots. Republicans must do the same now, and it will not be driven by the size of the stimulus. ”
Despite calls by the president and Democrats to increase the amount of direct payments, neither Loeffler nor Perdue called for an independent vote on the measures as Senate Democrats withdrew in Washington. Instead, senators link their support to Trump’s unrelated demands for the investigation into voter fraud and the repeal of a legitimate shield for social media businesses.
“I’m all three of those with the president,” Perdue said during a campaign earlier this week. Even if the benchmark were voted for at the last minute, he would not be able to support it, however, as he is in quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.
Loeffler said in an interview Thursday that she supports the checks, but did not say it should receive an independent vote in the chamber. She reiterated McConnell’s objections to the legislation to give money to higher earners who do not need it.
“Of course I support these checks,” Loeffler said. ‘And [Pelosi] has recently increased income levels, for example. What we do not have to do is save her blue state millionaires. ”
Republicans believe they have blunted Ossoff and Warnock’s criticism of their Covid-19 measures after Trump signed the $ 90 billion coronavirus relief measure on Sunday, which appeared in Perdue and Loeffler’s campaign ads before even receiving his signature. . The campaigns were eased when Trump finally signed the bill after initially proposing he may veto it because the value of the $ 600 stimulus checks was too low.
Some Republicans say privately that they want Trump to cut it, believing that his broad will hurt his Loeffler and Perdue if the party clings to the Senate majority. But they do not say that in public.
“The president’s continued broad-mindedness against Republicans in the Senate, while the majority hangs in the balance, is the most unhelpful thing he has done during his presidency,” a GOP strategist said.