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GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) Twin Georgia Senate runoffs have Republicans in a quandary. They could admit President Donald Trump lost his re-election bid and turn all attention to salvaging a Senate majority to counter President-elect Joe Biden. Or they could march lockstep alongside Trump and his unfounded assertions of a stolen election.

So far, Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, along with a gaggle of GOP power players right up to Vice President Mike Pence, seem to want it both ways. Some Trump loyalists insist thats not enough.

This tightrope act threatens party unity as Loeffler and Perdue try to beat back strong Democratic challenges from Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively, in Jan. 5 contests that will determine which party controls the Senate at the outset of a Biden administration. The worrisome reality for Republicans is that it wouldnt take much splintering to tilt the contests in Democrats favor in a newfound battleground where Biden outpaced Trump by just 12,000 votes out of about 5 million cast in the general election.

If they want to excite Trump supporters to turn out to vote in the Senate runoff, candidates need to be supportive of what the Trump campaign is doing in the regard to challenging the election, said Debbie Dooley, a national tea party organizer in Georgia and an early supporter of Trumps 2016 campaign.

After Georgias Republican secretary of state and Republican governor certified the states vote totals in Bidens favor, Dooley said, the sentiment among the presidents strongest supporters crystallized. They question why they should support candidates that arent fully supporting Trump, she said.

To be sure, Perdue and Loeffler have made considerable efforts to align themselves with Trump throughout their Senate tenures nearly six years for the first-term Perdue, less than a year for the appointed Loeffler now seeking her first election. Since Election Day, the senators have called for Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergers resignation. Theyve echoed nebulous claims about irregularities in Georgias voting process and tabulation and have yet to publicly acknowledge Biden as the president-elect.

Yet the campaign on the ground offers a different story, with the senators and their top supporters stressing an argument that admits, without saying as much, that Biden has been duly elected and will take office on Jan. 20.

Perdue calls a Republican Senate the last line of defense as he campaigns on a bus emblazoned with a clear message: Win Georgia. Save America.

On stage recently with Pence in Canton, Georgia, the senator got even more direct, cautioning that if he and Loeffler lose, Democrats will have the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Theyll do anything they want.

Indeed, Democrats are maintaining their House majority and Republicans must win at least one of the Georgia seats for a Senate majority. A Democratic sweep would yield a 50-50 Senate with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris breaking the tie as presiding officer.

Loeffler avoids explicit acknowledgements of Trumps defeat, but her message isnt subtle. We are the firewall to socialism in America, she roared at one of the rallies with Pence.

Neither Ossoff nor Warnock is a socialist, but Loefflers hyperbole acknowledges that therell be Democratic veto pen in the Oval Office. So, Loeffler said, We are going to hold the line right here in Georgia.

The balancing act extends through Trumps Cabinet. Im here because I stand with President Donald Trump, Pence declared in Gainesville, Georgia.

The vice president, almost certainly a future presidential candidate himself, carefully parsed his words, declaring that a GOP Senate majority could be Republicans last tool to protect all that weve accomplished. Pence said nothing to counter the passions of crowds that erupted into chants of Stop the steal!

Sonny Perdue, Trumps agriculture secretary and the senators cousin, covered every base, perhaps clumsily. The former Georgia governor called Bidens name, unlike Pence, and warned against giving him a blank check on Americas values. Yet in the same speech, the secretary insisted were not going to give up on President Trump.

The circumstances are precarious enough that many establishment Republicans, including Loeffler and Perdue confidants, decline to speak openly about it. The senators have not taken questions at their joint runoff campaign events, and neither campaign responded to an Associated Press inquiry on whether they recognize Biden as the incoming president.

Trump is doing little to make his fellow Republicans course any easier.

The president has chastised Raffensperger, the Georgia elections chief, and Gov. Brian Kemp, himself a former Georgia secretary of state, on social media. Raffensperger has taken to the editorial pages of The Washington Post to defend his job performance and his conservative credentials. When Kemp announced his certification of the 16 Democrats wholl cast Georgias electoral votes for Biden, the governor took pains to make clear it was a purely ministerial act required by law.

Trump remains defiant even after losing round after round of court disputes and after the General Services Administration finally acknowledged Biden as president-elect, the legal step required for the federal government to begin the customary transfer of power.

As recently as Wednesday, Trump retweeted hollow claims of a fraudulent election, and, in Georgia, his teams top lawyer, Lin Wood, fanned the flames.

Wood tweeted that Loeffler and Perdue should demand that Georgia hold a special legislative session to review ballots and conduct a legitimate recount, despite the thorough one that was held, as a condition for getting the votes of Georgians in the run-off.

Voters like Shaun Tracy are the targets of the muddled messaging.

The 60-year-old came to see Pence, Loeffler and both Perdues, but made clear she was there because of her loyalties to the president. Theres just been too many irregularities and discrepancies going on, Tracy said, repeating the baseless assertion that Bidens victory is due to fraudulent absentee ballots, among other things. Theyre trying to take our freedom away.

Days later, David Perdue heard that refrain more directly.

Standing in front of his campaign bus, the senator launched into his usual entreaty about the runoffs importance. As Perdue spoke, a man in the audience cried out: What are you doing to help Donald Trump?

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Amy contributed from Canton, Georgia.

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In Georgia, Republicans juggle Biden win and Trump loyalties - The Associated Press

At his rare public appearances, the president has not responded to shouted questions from the press about whether he will concede. In total, he has avoided taking questions from the press for 21 days, a remarkably long stretch for a president who is not camera shy. But he has gone off on Twitter, and on Tuesday morning shared a string of bizarre tweets about election fraud from actors Randy Quaid and James Woods, both prominent Trump boosters on Twitter. Hours later, he startled aides when he decided on just a few minutes notice to appear in the press briefing room to congratulate the country on the stock markets performance, with Vice President Mike Pence at his side.

Outside of Twitter, Trump has not commented about the election in days, but a Republican close to the White House said the president reached a tipping point on Monday after he saw the response to a press conference his legal team held last week.

People at the campaign and in top Republican circles tried to distance themselves from the conspiracy theory-laden event, describing it as a circus and national embarrassment. The president was told by advisers he doesnt have to concede, but he should keep his own legacy in mind and start the transition.

The president was going to have to come to terms with what happened and throw a tantrum, said a top Republican official. It took a little longer than people first thought.

Even some of Trumps favorite conservative media hosts are reaching the same conclusion.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson called out Sidney Powell, who was cut off from Trumps legal team on Sunday, for refusing to provide evidence to back up her sweeping claims of election fraud. Conservative radio titan Rush Limbaugh blamed the campaign for hyping blockbuster stuff about election fraud but not backing it up. Its not good, Limbaugh said, encouraging the president to hold rallies in support of Republicans in the Senate runoff races in Georgia.

Unless the legal situation changes in a dramatic and unlikely manner, Joe Biden will be inaugurated on 20 January, said Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

A senior campaign adviser argued that the presidents legal team is now just trying to publicly lay the groundwork for a fairer election in 2022 and 2024.

Theyre trying to figure out how the campaign can set this up for the future beyond 2020, the adviser said. We want to be focused on the future so we can hit the ground running.

The president has also had one foot publicly in the fight, and the other foot privately out the door. Behind the scenes, Trump has mused about his future after the White House, which has included everything from building up a Trump political arm, to investing in a media company, to a potential run in the 2024 presidential election.

Some other members of the Trump family are also waxing nostalgic about the past four years. On Instagram, the presidents daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump posted old photos of her family, including husband Jared Kushner, visiting different sites across Washington and at holiday events.

This time of year always brings back wonderful memories at the White House, she posted.

The couple is expected to leave Washington next year.

Gabby Orr and Nancy Cook contributed to this report.

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Trump carries on a fight everyone else is abandoning - POLITICO

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- After several days out of the public eye, President Donald Trump made a trip to Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday for the traditional Veterans Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence made the trip across the Potomac River to honor the nation's fallen soldiers.

A 21-gun salute was fired as they arrived for the wreath-laying ceremony.

Amid a steady rainfall, Trump saluted and Pence placed a hand over his heart as "Taps" was played at the tomb.

Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, began the service by laying a wreath at the tomb, which contains unidentified remains from each of the major U.S. military conflicts -- World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The event marked Trump's first public appearance since late last week. He was seen in public after golfing Saturday but has made no public remarks since losing the presidential election to Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its accompanying amphitheater, where the ceremonies are always held, has been closed to the public since the spring. Other select parts of the cemetery have reopened.

The ceremony was modified this year to ensure physical distancing to mitigate the threat of COVID-19.

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President Donald Trump, Mike Pence honor veterans during ...

In an extension of Donald Trump's refusal to concede the election to Joe Biden, Vice President Mike Pence on Friday said the administration plans to remain in place for another full term.

Supporters on Friday began chanting "four more years" at Pence, who was delivering a speech to conservative nonprofit Council for National Policy.

"That's the plan," Pence replied to the event attendees, according to Forbes.

"I promise you: We will keep fighting until every legal vote is counted, until every illegal vote is thrown out, and we will never stop fighting to make America great again."

Business Insidercalled the presidency for Biden on Friday, November 6.

More than a week after Biden's victory, Trump is still refusing to concede.

Last week, Trump released a statement accusing Biden of "rushing to falsely pose as the winner" after dozens of news outlets projected the former vice president to have won the election.

"The simple fact is this election is far from over," Trump said in a statement disseminated to news outlets.

Many Republican lawmakers have followed Trump's lead, avoiding publicly acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden and Vice Presidential-elect Kamala Harris as the winners.

Several prominent Republicans, including former President George W. Bush and Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, have congratulated Biden and Harris.

People close to Trump, including first lady Melania, have been urging him to accept the results, according to CNN.

After the election was called for Biden, Trump turned his attention to ongoing lawsuits against multiple states. The Trump campaign is trying to undercut the integrity of mail-in voting withlitigationagainst mail-in ballots. The president is falsely arguing that vote by mail leads towidespread voter fraud.

Pence maintained Trump's assertion that the election has not yet been decided, saying "we await the results of our election," Forbes reported.

His remarks come as the Biden administration prepares for a rocky transition. Still, Biden has been building out his incoming administration, appointing environment and energy heads, and forming a coronavirus task force.

"The fact that they're not willing to acknowledge that we won at this point is not of much consequence in our planning and what we're able to do between now and January 20," Biden said on Tuesday.

Several other White House officials have built on Trump and Pence's remarks.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for example, said Tuesday that "there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration." And Trade Advisor Peter Navarro said Friday that the White House is operating "under the assumption" that Trump will serve a second term in office.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Pence says Trump administration plans to be in place for 4 more years - Business Insider - Business Insider

It all started with one of President Donald Trumpsmost favorite pastimes -- golf.

Over the July 4 weekend, Mike Pence-- vice-presidential prospect at the time -- played a game of golf with the soon-to-be leader of the Republican party. That weekend initiated a promising four-year pledge of serving as Trumps wingman and most loyal soldier that persisted even through a trio of crises -- the coronaviruspandemic, economic recession and a brutal re-election defeat.

Although the golf outingwasnt the first time the two had met, it was the start of Trumps vetting process for a strong running mate to beat then-presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Shortly after, Pence has vouchsafed a top spot on the 2016 Republican ticket -- despite Trump thinking he was a bit of a loserin terms of politics -- and he has loyally supported the presidents decisions during the last four years, as well as on the campaign trail.

He has been a loyal soldier to Trump and is a huge reason for much of his success. In fact, I think his debate with Kamala Harris was a resounding victory for the campaign and helped turn around the fortunes for the entire party, John Feehery, Republican strategist and columnist at The Hill, says.

Pences most recent act of loyalty turns to him minorly backing Trumps voter fraud allegations relating to the 2020 election results -- cases that have been widely discredited by law experts, as they lack concrete evidence. The vice-president has slightly upheld Trumps legal blitz in several battleground states while also balking to fully defend it.

As the votes continue to be counted, were going to remain vigilant, as the president said, Pence said Wednesday morning after election night. Were going to protect the integrity of the vote.

But for nearly a week, the vice-president has remained silent and out-of-the-spotlight, as hes see-sawed between backing the presidents baseless claims while also maintaining a strong reputation on Capitol Hill and among the Republican party and future voters. His allegiance to Trumps claims could harm his political candidacy in the future, especially if they are squashed and debunked by the judicial system.

According to The New York Times, Corey Lewandowski,a top Trump campaign adviser, requested that Pence travel to the Pennsylvania Convention Center last week where remaining votes are being counted and Trump-led lawsuits are brewing. Pences chief of staff, however, denied the request.

The vice-president did, however, convene with Trump in the Oval Office last week, as reported by the Times.

There is little to be gained for Pence in taking a public position. He is perceived to back Trump by those who like Trump, and so he needn't be more vocal to retain that impression, Gregory A. Huber, Forst Family professor of political science at Yale University, notes. However, endorsing claims about fraud that now seem so clearly specious could be used against him if he chooses to run again.

In recent months, rumors have swirled about Pence running for president in 2024, and as a recent GOP vice-president, he has a powerful chance at being the front-runner for the nomination. But as those speculations deepened, reports of Trump running for the commander-in-chief spotagain in 2024 have sprouted since his election defeat against President-elect Joe Biden, potentially leaving Pence high and dry.

If Trump pursues his plans to launch a 2024 campaign within the next six weeks Pence will find himself in the company of all GOP hopefuls whose future plans are now in jeopardy, Ross Baker, professor of political science at Rutgers University, explains.

Other GOP hopefulsrumored to be chasing the 2024 presidential ticket are: Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Josh Hawley (Mo.)and Tim Scott (S.C.), as well as Fox News host Tucker Carlson, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, Secretary of State Mike Pompeoand Donald Trump Jr.

Chris Tausanovitch, assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, echoed Bakers remarks, noting that Trump has become a litmus test in the Republican party, making it very difficult for serious candidates to oppose him.

The prospect of a Trump run for President in 2024 bodes poorly for Pence's presidential ambitions. Support for Trump has emerged as a litmus test in the Republican party. This makes it very difficult for serious candidates to oppose him. Anyone who opposes him unsuccessfully risks becoming persona non grata in the Republican party, Tausanovitch said.

Trump has developed his own faction within the party -- known as Trumpism -- thats pushed him to be a GOP powerhouse for four years, as the group doesnt blend with traditional Republican ideology. If Pence does run in 2024 and Trump does not, its unclear if the president will endorse him considering their colliding ideological beliefs.

Although Pence can embrace versions of Trumpism, candidates like Haley and Scott could convey it in a more dynamic way than Pence, whose rhetorical style is as vanilla as his hair.

Pences dutiful, even slavish, adherence to Trump may be rewarded by a brush-back pitch by Trump and leave him sitting in the dugout with the also-rans, Baker says.

Pence, former Indiana governor, perhaps should return to his roots of being a conservative radio show host in a post-Trump era with occasional golf outings, especially if the president tries to pull a Grover Cleveland and attempt to serve non-consecutive terms.

If Trump runs, it is hard to see how Pence runs, Feehery said. Pence is a gifted communicator. He knows the world of talk radio and he knows how to stay on message.

Where he goes from here is anybody's guess, Feehery added.

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at theNational Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report andThe Hill.

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Mike Pence: The Future of the Republican Party? - The National Interest