Georgia Sen. Perdue won't attend final debate, after opponent Jon Ossoff called him a 'crook'

Instead of participating in a final debate with his Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, Georgia Sen. David Perdue (R) will spend his Sunday at a rally with President Trump.

Perdue announced his change of plans on Thursday. In response, Ossoff tweeted, "At last night's debate, millions saw that Perdue had no answers when I called him out on his record of blatant corruption, widespread disease, and economic devastation. Shame on you, senator."

Their Wednesday night debate in Savannah was heated, with Perdue claiming that out-of-state donors are giving money to Ossoff so he can enact "a radical socialist agenda." In turn, Ossoff brought up Perdue's stock trades in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, which came ahead of the economic downturn.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

"Perhaps Sen. Perdue would have been able to respond properly to the COVID-19 pandemic if you hadn't been fending off multiple federal investigations for insider trading," Ossoff said. "It's not just that you're a crook, senator, it's that you're attacking the health of the people that you represent."

The latest Monmouth University poll of registered voters in Georgia was released on Wednesday, and shows Ossoff leading Perdue, 49 percent to 46 percent. There is a third-party candidate also on the ballot, and if no one receives a majority of the vote on Nov. 3, there will be a runoff election in January.