President Donald Trump has opened a can of worms in Georgia politics in his search for more than three times the amount of dollars in direct checks that lawmakers agreed to send to Americans, Frank Luntz told CNBC on Tuesday. Republican pollster and political consultant.
After threatening to let a $ 900 billion Covid relief package that included the $ 900 billion Covid relief measure fade to Congress for his displeasure with $ 600 stimulus checks, Trump signed the bill Sunday. However, he has teamed up with Democrats on a rare occasion to demand $ 2,000 in payments from citizens.
“The president made a very smart decision by agreeing to sign [the] legislation, “Luntz told Squawk Box.” He made a very bad decision by opening the $ 2,000 personal checks because it will cause a nightmare for these two Republican senators to vote against Donald Trump or vote against the Conservatives in his state. “
With the majority of Republicans and Conservatives not in favor of the proposal to increase payments, it has sparked a storm within the party as Georgia voters voted in the Senate’s critical runoff over the next week.
The question forces Republicans to consider whether to add more to the national debt or deny Americans a financial boost in the face of the ongoing economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican Sen. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who is completing the term of retired Sen. Johnny Isakson, are fighting to defend two challenging Democrats to get their seats in the Jan. 5 qualifiers. The Senate races, which will decide the majority in the House, have attracted a lot of attention. The Republican Party has a 52-48 lead in the Senate. If the Democrats win both of Georgia’s contests, a 50-vote tie will be created, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker after he takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump’s push to increase stimulus controls has complicated competitions in the normally reliable red state, and the complication could be seen in Loeffler’s comments on the matter on Fox News on Tuesday morning. After the Democratic-controlled House voted with the support of 44 Republicans to increase direct payments to $ 2,000, the measure is expected to face an upward battle in the Senate, despite Trump’s support.
When asked if she would support the bill to increase payments, Loeffler spoke extensively of her support for the president, but did not explicitly say whether she was in favor of increasing direct payment.
“The president has been fighting for our country since day one. He continues to fight for every American,” he said. “I’ve stood by the president 100% of the time. I’m proud to do that and I said we now need to get relief from the Americans and I’ll stand up for it.”
In a subsequent appearance on the news channel, Perdue gave a more committed response to illustrate where he stands in this regard, saying he supports Trump’s request to increase spending.
“Look, that should have been done four months ago,” he said. “I’m delighted to support the president at his $ 2,000, it’s really a $ 1,400 increase over what we’ve already done, and I think with the next vaccine I think it’s absolutely appropriate, so I fully support what the president is doing well now. “
This marks an investment for Perdue, which opposed sending stimulus checks earlier this year before declaring itself in favor of paying $ 600 as part of the last spending package.
Although Trump has said the Senate will “start the process” in a vote to raise the dollar figure, it is unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been the target of the president’s anger over his November election loss, will schedule a vote.
In a statement Sunday, the Kentucky Republican praised Trump’s decision to sign the $ 900 billion aid package, but failed to mention the president’s request.
With the runoff in Georgia a week away, Luntz said the Republican Party is making a “smart decision” to continue making strategies in the state. Trump, who has spent the holiday season playing golf in Florida, is scheduled to visit Dalton, Georgia, Monday, election eve, hoping to give a boost to Loeffler and Perdue.
President-elect Joe Biden and Harris have visited the state to support candidates Raphael Warnock, who challenges Loeffler, and Jon Ossoff, who faces Perdue. None of the candidates received the 50% threshold needed to win seats in the November general election, forcing a second round in each race.
“It takes Donald Trump in Georgia to ensure that these two [seats] stay Republican, ”Luntz said.
Dalton is about 90 miles north of Atlanta and will be key to Republicans’ chances of staying in those seats, he added.
“To get a high turnout, you can make up for what’s happening in Atlanta and the suburbs of Atlanta,” Luntz said of the area that helped the state invest in Biden. “I have to give them credit for making the right geographical choice, but yes [is] that the president has only come down [to campaign in Georgia] twice “.
Luntz said 3% of Trump voters in the state do not want to participate in the playoffs, and cited his distrust of the political system after the 2020 election. Trump has refused to grant the race to Biden, weeks after the Electoral College voted to confirm the results of the presidential race.
“Frankly, he plays golf in Florida. He should get on his helicopter, get on Air Force One, fly to Georgia even without warning, because the president still has impact,” Luntz said. “It can still turn out to be voters who wouldn’t vote for anyone else, and they will need it.”