The Latest: Trump falsely claims he won Georgia

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The Latest: Trump falsely claims he won Georgia

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):



President Donald Trump kicked off his Saturday night rally in Georgia for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue by recycling the falsehood that he won the state.

“You know we won Georgia, just so you understand,” Trump told the large crowd gathered for the first post-election rally for the president.

In fact, President-elect Joe Biden won the state of Georgia by about 12,500 votes out of 5 million cast.

Trump said that he traveled to Georgia to help “ensure” the two Republicans win what are probably the most important Senate runoffs in U.S. history.

First Lady Melania Trump kicked off the rally by telling Georgians that it’s more important than ever “that you exercise your rights as a citizen and vote.”

4:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump has fruitlessly pressed Georgia’s governor to call a special legislative session aimed at overturning the presidential election results in that state.

Trump made his request iof Gov. Brian Kemp in a phone call on Saturday, and the governor refused. That is according to a senior government official in Georgia with knowledge of the call who was not authorized to discuss the private conversation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A person close to the White House who was briefed on the matter verified that account of the call.

Trump’s request was first reported by The Washington Post.

Trump’s fixation with his defeat is overshadowing his party’s campaign to save its majority in the Senate. The call took place hours before Trump is to appear at a rally in Georgia, where Republicans hope he will dedicate his energy to imploring their supporters to vote in two runoff elections Jan. 5.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

President Donald Trump’s first political rally since losing his reelection bid is ostensibly to urge support for the Republican incumbents in Georgia’s two runoffs that will decide which party controls the Senate at the start of Joe Biden’s administration. But the question remains whether Trump will really try to help his party or use the Saturday night event in Valdosta to amplify his conspiratorial and debunked theories of electoral fraud.