The Washington Post opinion columnist Marc Thiessen said that President Donald Trump’s “path to a second term” is almost certainly in 2024, but stressed that it “flows through Georgia.”
Although Trump has so far refused to concede the 2020 election, he did authorize General Services Administrator Emily Murphy on Monday to “do what needs to be done” to begin the formal transition process.
However, as lawsuits in key swing states continue, Republican Georgia Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are facing off against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in a January 5 runoff that will decide which party controls the Senate.
During a Tuesday evening panel segment on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Thiessen expressed concern that the Trump campaign’s legal challenges could be “creating a distraction” that could “depress Republican turnout” in Georgia.
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“The problem is that the president is focused on the wrong thing right now,” Thiessen said. “His chances of overturning the last election are next to zero, if not zero itself. So he has a path to a second term, but it’s in 2024.”
“And the path to a second term flows through Georgia and winning the Georgia Senate race, and right now it’s not just the opportunity costs, the fact that he spending his time and energy on these legal challenges that have no chance of succeeding, it’s also the fact that the Trump supporters are not energized behind these candidates,” he continued. (RELATED: Frank Luntz: Trump Election Disputes Could Have ‘Severe Consequences’ For GOP Chances In Georgia)
Thiessen cited video footage of Trump supporters “yelling” at Perdue about Trump’s election challenges.
“This whole legal thing is creating a distraction that’s going to depress Republican turnout and it could cost Republicans control of the Senate, and that would be an absolute disaster,” he concluded.