Whether or not it was his intent, impeached two-time popular vote sore loser Donald Trump threw Mitch McConnell under the bus Tuesday with his demand that Congress come back with $2,000 stimulus checks for everyone. He also put the Republican Senate as a whole on the spot, particularly the two in Georgia who are in the middle of tight runoff elections.
In reporters' inboxes first thing this morning: "Reverend Warnock Calls On Kelly Loeffler To Support $2,000 Stimulus Checks For Georgians." Warnock's statement is simple: "Donald Trump is right, Congress should swiftly increase direct payments to $2,000. Once and for all Senator Loeffler should do what's best for Georgia instead of focusing on what she can do for herself." Tuesday night, following Trump's bizarre statement, Jon Ossoff jumped on board.
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On CNN Tuesday night, Ossoff added "President Trump is, as ever, erratic and all over the place. But on this point, tonight, he's right. […] $600 is a joke. They should send $2,000 checks to the American people right now because people are hurting." He continued "David Perdue, my opponent, who opposed even the first round of $1,200 checks […] has obstructed direct relief for the last eight months, and now decided he wanted to cut it down to 600 bucks when people can barely feed their families through no fault of their own." Warnock tweeted "Billionaire @KLoeffler thinks $600 will cover your rent, groceries, and hospital bills," Tuesday night in response to Trump.
So now Loeffler and Perdue are totally on the spot: stick with Trump and call for the money and thereby screw McConnell—who finally acquiesced to doing the bill in the first place precisely because the two "are getting hammered" on stimulus, or stick with McConnell who has been shoveling tens of millions into their races through Super PACs aligned with him. Which is no less than any of these Republicans deserves.
But it is a great opening for Ossoff and Warnock, one that they’ve been quick to jump on.