GRIFFIN, Ga. — Monday, Sen. David Perdue boasted to a campaign audience about his call to fire Georgia's secretary of state – though he did not explain why.
Perdue was with US Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) visiting Griffin to campaign for Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Both Republican Georgia senators face a January runoff against two Democrats.
Loeffler cancelled her appearance at this event in Griffin. She’s in quarantine following a conflicting test results for COVID-19.
Perdue has been a close ally of President Trump. Shortly after Trump lost the presidential election, Perdue and Loeffler called for the resignation of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger – a fellow Republican.
Both senators are trying to win votes from Trump supporters who believe, with scant evidence, that the election was stolen.
"I definitely would like to see the presidential election overturned from where it is now," said George Hollander, a Spalding County voter wearing Trump gear at the Perdue event.
Yet, Perdue hasn’t talked much about his call for Raffensperger's resignation since early November. He rarely does interviews, except with Fox News.
"What are you doing to help Donald Trump and this fraud case?" a man shouted from the crowd during Perdue's stump speech.
"Well, I’m going to tell you in a minute," Perdue responded. But when the man interrupted two more times, Perdue finally answered.
"We called for the resignation of our secretary of state is what we did," Perdue said.
"We’re calling for lawsuits right now. We’re doing a lot," Perdue added, as the crowd applauded. "Every legal vote should be counted for Donald Trump. And you know what? They should be counted for me, too. Absolutely."
It was the biggest applause line of the event – though Perdue didn’t elaborate – and skipped back onto his campaign bus without answering questions afterward.
Perdue has not said exactly how he believes Raffensperger mismanaged the election. No evidence of mismanagement has emerged.