Trump hypes Georgia rally for Senate-deciding election just hours after he called the contest 'illegal and invalid'

DONALD Trump has announced he will be holding a rally in Georgia to boost the two Republicans candidates in the runoff despite hours earlier calling the election "illegal and invalid".

Trump took to Twitter to announce he will be arriving in the state to boost the chances of David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the race which will decide the US Senate.

The runoff races in Georgia will see whether president elect Joe Biden will be able to freely execute his progressive agenda over the next four years with both legislatures in the hands of the Democrats.

"Will be in Georgia on Monday night, 9:00 P.M. to RALLY for two GREAT people, @sendavidperdue & @KLoeffler. GET READY TO VOTE ON TUESDAY!!!" Trump tweeted.

He followed it up with his catchphrase: "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Losing the Senate could prove disastrous for Trump's legacy as it gives Biden free reign to make sweeping changes and push through his plans.

And while also encouraging people to vote and holding a rally, just hours before Trump had outright claimed the runoff would be "unconstitutional" due to "hasty" changes made to the voting process.

Perdue and Loeffler have fallen behind in the polls ahead of the monumentally important vote on January 5 as the Republican party squabbles over how to handle Trump's claims of a rigged election.

FiveThirtyEight had Democrat Jon Ossoff overtake Perdue with a 0.9 point lead going into 2021, while Reverend Raphael Warnock overtook Loeffler before Christmas and extended his lead to a 1.8 point advantage.

Biden managed to flip Georgia blue for the first time since 1992 – defeating Trump by a razor thin margin of just 0.26 per cent in the vote on November 3.

Democrats have been pouring efforts into the state to try and drive up voter registration – especially amongst African Americans – to unseat the Republicans.

Georgians have already started voting early, with an estimated 2.8million votes already cast – which may be good news for Ossoff and Warnock.

And turnout is also reported to have been higher in Democratic Congressional districts than Republican ones.

It comes as Trump tweeted on Friday a lengthy message explaining his thoughts on why the Georgia election won't be valid, despite also encouraging voters to participate.

"Before even discussing the massive corruption which took place in the 2020 Election, which gives us far more votes than is necessary to win all of the Swing States (only need three), it must be noted that the State Legislatures were not in any way responsible for the massive changes made to the voting process, rules and regulations, many made hastily before the election, and therefore the whole State Election is not legal or Constitutional," he wrote.

"Additionally, the Georgia Consent Decree is Unconstitutional & the State 2020 Presidential Election is therefore both illegal and invalid, and that would include the two current Senatorial Elections.

"In Wisconsin, Voters not asking for applications invalidates the Election. All of this without even discussing the millions of fraudulent votes that were cast or altered!"

Kamala Harris is due to visit the state on Sunday, while Biden will fly in on Monday – meaning he will be in a direct rally showdown with Trump.

Meanwhile, the Republican party faces ongoing divisions about how to handle the certification of the presidential election on January 6.

Trump and his legal team have repeatedly insisted the election was stolen from him – but have have lost more than 59 court cases as they fail to present evidence.

The President and his allies claim a wide-ranging conspiracy across multiple states and involving hundreds of thousands of ballots was executed to rob him of a second term.

Trump has urged his supporters to descend on Washington DC on January 6 to rally against the certification of the result – with fears mounting over potential clashes.

Biden won a record-setting 81million votes, the most number of ballots ever accrued by a candidate – but since election night Trump has refused to concede.

Pressure is mounting on Mike Pence to intervene on behalf of Trump and declare him the winner when Congress meets on Wednesday to ceremonially count the votes.

It is expected most Republicans will vote in favour of certifying the results, but a small number of Trump loyalists are expected to object.

While it will not be enough to impact Biden's path to the White House, it shows the deep divisions now being exposed in the Republican Party.

Trump has attacked members of the GOP who have failed to back him in his campaign to overturn the election, including Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.

Georgia Republicans have also found themselves in Trump's firing line as officials refused to overturn the election result in the state.

Loeffler and Perdue are both standing on hardline and pro-Trump positions, branding their Democrat rivals as "radicals" and "socialists" in Trumpian fashion.

Michael McNeely, a former vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party, told The Independent: "The president resonates with a lot of people, and so do the buzzwords, so you hear ‘Trump’ and ‘socialism’ a lot.

"I wish we lived in a society where people talked about ideas, but that’s just not where we are."

Chip Lake, a longtime GOP consultant and adviser to Loeffler’s rival Rep. Doug Collins, added: "No Republican is really happy with the situation we find ourselves in.

"But sometimes when you play poker, you have to play the hand you’re dealt, and for us that starts with the president.”

He went on: "If, for some reason, the Republican candidates lose, it’s going to be hard to write a post-mortem on this runoff and not look directly at all the chaos that has been created on voter fraud."

Loeffler is expected to attend the campaign event with Trump, but Perdue's appearance is unclear as he remains in quarantine after being contact with someone infected with Covid.

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