Georgia's Republican Secretary of State says that despite voting for President Donald Trump and donating to his campaign, Trump threw him "under the bus" by attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election in the state.
In an opinion piece for USA Today, Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger criticized Trump for refusing to "accept the facts" in narrowly losing the state to President-elect Joe Biden.
In his opinion piece, Raffensperger noted that despite the circumstance, Georgia's elections went fairly smoothly, noting record numbers of mail-in and early voting and "minuscule" wait times on election day. But he said that all changed when Trump began publicly undermining trust in Georgia's elections.
"Elections are the bedrock of our democracy," Raffensperger wrote. "They need to be run fairly and, perhaps more important, impartially. That's not partisan. That's just American. Yet some don't seem to see it that way."
As the head of elections in Georgia, Raffensperger has found himself at the center of attention since election day. Days after the polls closed, Raffensperger called for an unprecedented statewide audit of the presidential election in the state, which required a hand recount of election results.
While the audit did find a few thousand votes for Trump that had not been previously counted, the new votes only represented a small change in the final tally. Georgia has certified its election, though the Trump campaign has filed for a machine recount of votes, which is unlikely to change the final tally.
All the while, Trump has continued to cast doubt on the electoral process in the state — and Raffensperger says he's been personally pressured by fellow Republicans to find ways to exclude legally-cast ballots. He also says both he and his family have faced threats in the face of the recounts.
In his piece, Raffensperger skewered both Republicans and Democrats who attempted to discredit the election process in the state.
"An onslaught of fake news and unrepentant disinformation threatened to tear the fabric of our country apart," he wrote. "People on both sides of the aisle generated controversies out of nowhere to stir up trouble."
In particular, Raffensperger criticized Trump for "adopting the playbook" of Stacey Abrams, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate who lost out to Gov. Brian Kemp in 2018. Abrams never conceded to Kemp and only suspended her campaign after the state certified the results of the election.
Raffensperger also went after Rep. Doug Collins, calling him a "failed sente candidate." Collins, who was eliminated from a Senate race this month, has been working with the Trump campaign in its efforts to overturn election results.
Raffensperger closed his editorial by calling for more integrity from election officials.
"In times of uncertainty, when the integrity of our political system is most at risk, the integrity of our politicians is paramount," he wrote.
