President Trump is extremely invested in the Georgia special election


When President Trump sends a single tweet out about a subject, it means it has his attention. Multiple tweets suggest a fixation, and on Monday, the president devoted two of his patented 140-characters-or-less dispatches — plus a robocall — to the Georgia special election and the "super liberal" candidate looking to represent the 6th congressional district.
Trump sent his first tweet out on Monday morning, declaring — without naming frontrunner Jon Ossoff — that a "super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal [sic] race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration, and raise taxes!" Ossoff quickly released a statement saying he was "glad" Trump was paying attention to the race, but was "misinformed. I'm focused on bringing fresh leadership, accountability, and bipartisan problem solving to Washington to cut wasteful spending and grow metro Atlanta's economy into the Silicon Valley of the South."
Residents of the 6th congressional district, until recently represented by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, began receiving robocalls from Trump on Monday afternoon in which Trump claimed that "liberal Democrats from outside of Georgia are spending millions of dollars trying to take your Republican congressional seat away from you." (Republicans are spending millions from outside Georgia to defeat Ossoff, too.) Should Ossoff win, Trump warns, he'll "raise your taxes, destroy your health care, and flood our country with illegal immigrants." He revisited the race on Twitter Monday night, taking a different, expectations-lowering approach: "With eleven Republican candidates running in Georgia (on Tuesday) for Congress, a runoff will be a win," he said. "Vote 'R" for lower taxes & safety!"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If Ossoff or any of the other 17 candidates receive more than 50 percent of the vote, they will win the seat vacated by Price. With many saying an outright Ossoff win in this reliably conservative district would be a major blow to the president, it's no surprise Trump is pulling for a runoff election in June.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Strava vs. Garmin: the row splitting the running community
Under The Radar The legal dispute between the two titans of exercise tech is like ‘Mom and Dad fighting’
-
Bad Bunny: Why MAGA is incensed
Feature The NFL announced Latino artist Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime headliner, sparking MAGA outrage
-
Supreme Court: Judging 20 years of Roberts
Feature Two decades after promising to “call balls and strikes,” Chief Justice John Roberts faces scrutiny for reshaping American democracy
-
News organizations reject Pentagon restrictions
Speed Read The proposed policy is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s latest move to limit press access at the Pentagon
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new Mideast
Speed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland