Democrat Jon Ossoff called Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., a "coward" for skipping Sunday's debate, but Perdue fired back on Newsmax TV that Ossoff debated "an empty podium" and lost.
"We wanted the people of Georgia to see just who this guy is, and we witnessed something we hadn't seen before, and that is a career politician wannabe actually debate an empty podium," Perdue told Wednesday's "Greg Kelly Reports."
"And the podium won, Greg."
Perdue told host Greg Kelly he was outraged by the policies Ossoff espoused in the solo debate, including "blanket amnesty" for illegal immigrants, "a total lockdown" amid the global coronavirus pandemic, and a refusal to get into the "details" of how to balance the needs of small businesses in Georgia in the time of COVID-19.
"How can you not talk about the details of saving people's businesses? I'm outraged by that, Greg," Perdue continued. "We brought $47 billion to this state and saved a million and a half jobs.
"And I can tell you, we spent night after night getting in those details that this kid don't even wanna talk about."
As for his controversial decision to pass on another debate with Ossoff, one that aired nationally on cable TV, Perdue said two was enough.
"I chose not to participate because we had already had two with this guy and all he did was lie to the people of Georgia," Perdue said, noting he already defeated Ossoff in the contested Nov. 3 election by 2%, falling just shy of the 50% automatic victory threshold in the state at 49.73%.
Perdue noted an election challenge in Georgia might have already earned him the Senate seat, as opposed to the state-mandated runoff Jan. 5 against Ossoff.
"This is a tragedy," Perdue said of evidence of voter irregularities and election challenges, "and I am embarrassed and I hope we can get to the bottom of it very soon."
Republicans already have at least a tie for control of the Senate with 50 seats, while Democrats need to sweep the Jan. 5 Senate runoffs and seat Joe Biden in the White House to give the vice president a deciding vote in a 50-50 split.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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