President Biden on Friday credited Georgia officials with helping to “save our democracy” by standing up to pressure from former President Trump and his allies over the 2020 election.
Biden delivered remarks in Atlanta condemning violence and discrimination against the Asian American community after eight people, six of whom were Asian, were shot and killed there Tuesday evening. But he used the second half of his speech to credit Georgia with both securing his victory and delivering Democrats the majority in the Senate.
The president took a thinly veiled swipe at his predecessor, who spent weeks challenging Georgia’s election results, making unproven claims of fraud and pressuring state officials to overturn the result.
“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry. And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, that you’ve recalculated,” Trump said in a January phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R).
“All I want to do is this,” he continued. “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”
The Peach State is one of several this year where Republicans have introduced new restrictions on early and mail-in voting after Democratic victories in November.
“This is a democracy. The right to vote is fundamental. The fact that there was a record turnout in America in the last election in the midst of a pandemic should be something we celebrate, not attack,” Biden said in scripted remarks.
