Georgia Republican secretary of state hits Loeffler as ‘weak,’ ‘fake Trumper’

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) on Thursday called former Sen. Kelly Loeffler “weak” and a “fake Trumper” following her call for the state official to be investigated over his handling of the 2020 election. 

During an appearance on Fox News, network host Neil Cavuto asked the Georgia Republican about his plans for the future, existing within a part that “might be pushing” him “to the side — or trying to.”

Raffensperger responded, stating that he plans to run for reelection in the state and acknowledged that Georgians may still be upset about the results in the 2020 election. 

“Many people support what I have done, when I talk to people throughout the state … there were still some hard feelings from some of the people, but many of the people understood that we did everything right — they didn’t like the results, but neither did I,” he said. 

Cavuto then asked Raffensperger if he would support Loeffler should she run for Senate again and win the Republican nomination. 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger calls former Sen. Kelly Loeffler a “fake Trumper” when asked if he would support her if she wins the Republican nomination in another go-around pic.twitter.com/iKdSgBxNNk

— Daniel Chaitin (@danielchaitin7) April 29, 2021

“I don’t believe that’s going to happen. I think that what the base wants is someone that’s a true blue Trump supporter, and she’s a fake Trumper,” Raffensperger said. 

Cavuto asked again if she won the nomination if he would throw his support behind the former senator. 

“That’s such a wild hypothetical,” Raffensperger said. “Let’s talk about it if it happens.”  

The remarks from the Georgia secretary of state come after Loeffler sent a letter Wednesday to the state’s Attorney General Chris Carr requesting a probe into whether Raffensperger used his office to advance his personal political interests during the 2020 election cycle. 

Loeffler alleged that he “politicized and minimized voters’ legitimate concerns about changes to Georgia’s elections” amid the pandemic, where states across the country relied on mail-in ballots to minimize person-to-person contact at the polls. 

Loeffler, an ardent supporter of former President Trump, lost to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) in the state’s Senate election in January. Her loss as well as former Sen. David Perdue’s (R-Ga.) in the state to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) afforded Democrats the slim majority in the upper chamber. 

Raffensperger has caught the ire of Trump following the 2020 election after the former president lost the reliably red state to President Biden by about 12,000 votes.

Trump repeatedly asserted that the election in Georgia was subject to widespread voter fraud. However, Raffensperger confirmed after the November election there was no evidence to support this claim. 

Trump made several efforts to pressure Raffensperger to overturn the election results in the Peach State, at one point asking the official to “find” more than 11,000 votes needed to flip the state red. 

Biden’s victory was the first time in more than 20 years that a Democrat won Georgia.