Former President Donald Trump, while speaking to the Georgia state Republican convention Saturday, railed against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into whether Trump and others tried illegally to interfere in the 2020 election in the state, commenting that the attack is happening because of the "perfect phone call" he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ask about the election outcome.
"I thought the results were ridiculous, and so do many other people in this room," Trump said. "If you look at the numbers and if you look at the sheets — which sadly, judges don't want to do and a lot of people don't want to do — ... when you look at other things, with the stuffing of the ballot boxes, we have a long way to go in Georgia."
Trump is under investigation in Georgia for the 2021 phone call to Raffensperger asking him to "find" enough votes to secure his victory in the state.
Before Trump's speech, Raffensperger, in an interview on Fox News Saturday, called on Republicans to "coalesce" and focus on "broad-based coalitions."
"That's how you win and that's how Republicans win not only in Georgia, but nationwide — particularly as things are more competitive," he said, reported Politico.
Raffensperger wouldn't say definitely if he'll vote for Trump if he's the party's 2024 GOP nominee. He said he's looking for "principled leadership," and he confirmed that he and other current statewide elected GOP office-holders were not invited to Trump's speech.
"I had every right to complain that the election in Georgia ... was, in my opinion, a disaster," said Trump.
The former president also called out former U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, who lost his challenge against Raffensperger in the last election for secretary of state.
"That was a bad, bad deal, because you were leading in — was it every single poll? And leading by a lot," Trump said to Hice, calling his loss "very unfair."
"Look, we have to have honest elections," said Trump. "We just have to, or you don't have a country. You don't have a state. You don't have a country. You don't have anything."
In Atlanta, he added, "People are afraid to walk to their local grocery store for a loaf of bread for fear of being assaulted or murdered," but Willis "is spending all of her energy, all of our money, all of her time trying to get Trump ... people are leaving in droves because it's too unsafe."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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