Have Warnock, Ossoff commented on 2020 elections? What they’ve said

Have Warnock, Ossoff commented on 2020 elections? What they've said

What have GA Senators Ossoff and Warnock said about 2020 elections?


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The spotlight is back on Georgia’s elections as the state’s two Democratic senators get ahead of what could be an explosive address from the White House.

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post he would be “making a Speech to the Nation” Thursday night at 9 p.m. E.T., but he did not disclose what his speech would cover.

When Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked to preview the content of his remarks, she said “the truth is, nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should tune in.” Leavitt will return to the press secretary podium following her maternity leave at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Speculation as to what Trump plans to announce has run rampant, with rumors and anonymous sources saying it ranges from Iran to the SAVE Act to Chinese election interference. One news outlet even speculated Trump could call into question the legitimacy of Georgia’s senate seats.

Georgia’s two senators, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, appear to be getting ahead of the speech with messages of their own regarding the 2020 election in Georgia.

Ossoff is running for reelection in a crucial race against Rep. Mike Collins, a staunch Trump supporter and long-time election denier who has said as recently as June that Trump won the 2020 election in Georgia.

Both Ossoff and Warnock were outspoken following the federal raids of a Fulton County election hub earlier this year, with Warnock calling it a “pretext to interfere” with the upcoming midterms.

Here’s what they’ve said about election integrity in Georgia leading up to Trump’s speech.

Ossoff goes on the offensive

Ossoff, as the one running for reelection this cycle, has gone on the offensive to assert Georgia’s elections were free and fair, and Trump’s “obsession” with the state stems from an anger toward Black voters who turned against him.

Donald Trump‘s spiral continues. The failed president, pocketing billions as he drives up prices, is afraid to lose the midterms. So he will reheat debunked election conspiracy theories and tell bizarre new lies to deny his 2020 defeat and attack voting rights,” Ossoff said in a statement late Monday.

He also said it would be a “disaster” for Collins who will be forced to “double down” on conspiracies that have not been well accepted in general elections.

“From the start, Trump’s obsession with Georgia elections revealed his fury that Black voters were instrumental to his defeat,” Ossoff said. “I’m asking concerned citizens nationwide to join me and support our voter protection efforts in Georgia.”

In an appearance on “The Briefing with Jen Psaki” earlier this week, Ossoff himself acknowledged the rumors around Trump’s remarks, and said “obviously, the President has no power to (declare me and Raphael Warnock illegitimate senators), but he does have the power to try and intimidate people. He’s demonstrated his will to abuse power.”

He went on to say whatever Trump talks about Thursday night will be a “pretext” to use federal power and resources to “interfere in the election, or to give his proxies and loyalists in state and local jurisdictions some cover for whatever they might attempt.”

Ossoff said Trump is “a real and live threat to voting rights.”

The senator, who is serving his first term, sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and questioned Jay Clayton during his nomination hearing on Wednesday to become the director of national intelligence following the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard.

In the hearing, Ossoff asked Clayton who won the 2020 election. Clayton would not say the election was won by Biden, and Ossoff asked Clayton “isn’t it humiliating” that he can’t answer the question. He also asked Clayton whether he was aware Gabbard was present during the FBI raid in Georgia, and Clayton answered that he was “made aware” of it during a meeting with Ossoff the previous day. Gabbard, as director of national intelligence, did not have a clear role during the raid, and many have questioned whether her presence meant the Trump Administration was going to allege international interference.

Warnock says Trump is trying to ’tilt the playing field in his favor’

Sen. Warnock, a leader in the modern-day civil rights movement and the senator not up for reelection this cycle, said Trump was searching for ways to interfere with the midterms starting in February.

During a spotlight hearing with Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory a month after the Fulton election raid, Warnock said the action was part of an effort “to rig the rules ahead of the 2026 midterm elections,” and was setting the stage for Trump to question any results out of Georgia, should the midterms not go his way. He said the “pretext to interfere” was a clear motive in the raid.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement following Warnock’s February remarks.

Warnock has not backed down from this accusation, and in a series of posts on X this week, he again accused Trump of sowing doubt in Georgia elections to help Republican candidates win.

“Donald Trump has already tried to redraw maps and change the rules of our elections to tilt the playing field in his favor. When he can’t win by the rules, he tries to change them,” Warnock wrote in one post.

“The president can spend every day relitigating 2020 if he wants. I’ll spend every day doing the job the people of Georgia elected me to do,” he said in another. The post comes after a private equity ban on purchasing single-family homes, written by Warnock, became federal law when Trump refused to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

Warnock then said at the end of the day, Trump’s focus on both the 2020 election and Georgia isn’t about the results six years ago. “It’s about 2026,” Warnock said.

“Donald Trump lost Georgia in 2020. That’s not my opinion, it’s a fact. The votes were counted, recounted, audited, and litigated. He lost, he lost, he lost. But this really isn’t about 2020,” Warnock said. “he is trying to sow doubt on the integrity of our elections in Georgia so that he can create the pretext to interfere in 2026.”

Irene Wright covers Georgia politics and elections as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.

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