Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera warned on Monday that President Trump’s continued sowing of doubt in the election process could cost the Republican Party the Georgia Senate races and control of the upper chamber.
Rivera told Fox News’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum” that “if people lose faith in Georgia’s electoral system,” Republicans will not show up to vote in the Jan. 5 runoff races, which could open the door to Democrats winning the Senate.
“The stakes are so very high,” Rivera said. “They are astronomical.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who considers himself a Trump supporter, has said in interviews he’s been pressured by GOP lawmakers, including Republican senators, to exclude legal ballots in order for Trump to be declared the winner and earn the state’s 16 electoral votes.
The state recently certified the election results, showing President-elect Joe Biden winning by 12,284 votes.
Trump has publicly criticized Raffensperger and Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying as recently as Sunday that he was “ashamed” that he endorsed the governor.
Rivera said discouraging faith in the election process in Georgia and across the country poses a major risk for voter turnout.
“I can’t imagine why the Republican senators aren’t rallying around the Georgia Republicans, the secretary of state and the governor there, and saying, ‘The system in Georgia will work. You got to vote. Everything is at stake here,’” he said.
Rivera said that they are instead “attacking the system not only in Georgia but nationwide,” which could lead to people being discouraged from voting.
“I think that the president is on the wrong course here,” Rivera said. “I think he’s gotta take a real gut check between now and Saturday, with all due respect, and, you know, I love the guy, but enough is enough now.”
Rivera continued by saying he didn’t mean to “minimize” the hurt Trump was experiencing because of his loss to Biden.
But he added, “This is the job he has now as the head of the GOP, as the commander in chief of the country. He’s gotta rally the voters in Georgia.”
“Control of the Senate is in the balance now, and if he allows his personal, you know, annoyance with the secretary of state and Gov. Kemp to rule, then I think it’s gonna be a devastating loss for the Republican Party,” he continued.
In the runoff races, Democratic candidates the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will face off against Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.), respectively, after neither candidate in either race received a majority of the vote in November.
If either Republican wins their election, the Senate will remain in GOP control. Should both Democrats prevail, the chamber would be split 50-50.
Trump has refused to concede to Biden, who has widely been acknowledged as the winner for nearly a month. Instead, the president and his campaign have promoted unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud through lawsuits in several key battleground states.