Trump praises Georgia Senate race rivals Loeffler and Collins during Atlanta trip
President Donald Trump refused to pick sides on Wednesday in Georgia in a battle between two Republican lawmakers vying for the same U.S. Senate seat.
Trump praised Sen. Kelly Loeffler as a “good woman” and Rep. Doug Collins as an “incredible man and friend” at an Atlanta event that both candidates attended.
Loeffler and other Georgia lawmakers rode in Air Force One to Atlanta, while Collins secured one-on-one time with Trump on the tarmac when the president landed. The two candidates are jockeying for the president’s endorsement.
Trump has declined so far to publicly take sides in the race between Collins and Loeffler, who the state’s Republican governor appointed in December to fill the unexpected vacancy created by former GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson’s early retirement.
A senior White House official in a Tuesday call with reporters about the Georgia trip said that Trump remains neutral in the race.
On the president’s second trip to Georgia since Loeffler and Collins entered the race, Trump was complimentary of both in remarks at an infrastructure event at the UPS hub at the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
He called Loeffler “a woman who’s come in and done a great job.”
“And she’s been so supportive of me and the agenda, and a good person, a good woman, with a husband who’s a terrific man,” Trump said.
“Sen. Kelly Loeffler, thank you very much. Thank you, Kelly. Great job, Kelly,” he said.
Trump described Collins as a “warrior” for him in Congress. The Republican lawmaker was on the White House impeachment team, serving as a surrogate for Trump during the Senate hearing.
“An incredible spokesman, an incredible man and friend, Doug Collins,” he said. “Doug, thank you, Doug. Great job, Doug.”
Loeffler is filling the Senate seat until at least November. She is competing against a group of Republicans and Democrats, including Collins, to represent Georgia as a senator until 2022.
Loeffler and Collins will compete on the same ballot with each other and Democrats in November. The top two candidates from either party will advance to a run-off election in January unless a candidate is able to win a majority of votes on the first try.
