Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) Defends Decision To Skip Debate With Challenger: Ossoff “Debated An Empty Podium, And The Podium Won”
Georgia Senator David Perdue (R-GA) joined the Guy Benson Show and spoke about his campaign for reelection in the state’s January 5th runoff elections. Perdue said,
“I’ve never seen anything like this. You take the political energy in the entire country and focus it on one state and Senate races. Kelly Loeffler and I are both outside business people who bring a unique perspective to the United States Senate, have a history and a legacy of getting results, and that’s what we’re bringing to the people of Georgia.”
The Senator talked about the national importance of this election, saying if Senator Loeffler and himself lose these runoffs ‘Chuck Schumer will get total control.’ Calling the Democrat’s platform, ‘extremely liberal, dangerous and radical.’
Senator Perdue gave an update on Covid relief talks in congress. Saying,
“I agree with the compromise — and look, nobody’s going to like that, I don’t like it either. But right now, the top priority is to get help to the people who need it most and these are the smallest of the small business. We’re talking about $100,000 per loan, 10 employees. That’s the average size of the people we’ve helped so far. And to me, anything we can do on a compromise that can help get that out there right now is what we need to do.”
Perdue also defended his strategic decision not to debate his democrat opponent Jon Ossoff. Saying,
“Well, remember, Kelly has not had a one-on-one with Raphael Warnock. And so, that makes total sense that she debated him in a runoff. It’s unusual to have debates like this in runoffs because you’ve already litigated the issues. You’ve exposed the other candidate. We’ve done that twice with this guy. And all he did in those debates was lie. So, we made a strategic decision to let him have the microphone for 30 minutes and show Georgia just what an empty seat he really is. And he exposed that he supports blanket amnesty without even being challenged. There was nobody in the other podium. I mean, he wants a national lockdown right now. And he said — this is the worse one, he said you know, what would you do to help the people of Georgia get through the rest of this pandemic? He said, well, I don’t think we should get blogged down in detail. I mean, that’s outrageous, Guy. I mean, goodness gracious. I mean, that’s just – that’s a perfect answer of somebody that’s been set up in life by his daddy and has never really done anything on his own. You know, this is the only debate in American history, Guy, where a politician wannabe — and that’s what he is — debated an empty podium, and the podium won. And so that’s what we knew would happen, and we exposed him without saying a word; he did it on his own.”
Listen To The Full Interview Below:
Full Transcript Below:
GUY BENSON, FOX RADIO HOST: Happy hour on a Friday here on “The Guy Benson Show.” Thanks for tuning in. I’m Guy Benson. Our website here is GuyBensonShow.com where the podcast is always free of charge. GuyBensonShow.com and this hour sponsored in part by The Finnish Long Drink, which is delicious and very popular here in the state of Georgia where we’re broadcasting from yesterday and today. Very exciting. Their website, our sponsor’s website, is TheLongDrink.com. You can find out where it is sold near you or order online, 21 plus only please and always drink responsibly. Now in our opener that we play at the top of the happy hour, it refers to the most powerful city in the world, and that means Washington, D.C., where I typically do the show from at home, but I happen to be broadcasting from the most powerful state in the country at this moment in time, Georgia. We are coming to you from Atlanta, and this is the center of the political universe because of two absolutely crucial races on January 5. Both Senate seats in this state are up, and how those seats turn out, how the elections go, will determine control of the United States Senate. If the Democrats win, they will control all of the federal government. If not, Republicans will have a roadblock and an ability to engage in divided government, negotiation, et cetera. Checks and balances. So, the stakes, as we keep saying over and over again like robots, are extremely high, but it just happens to be true, which is why we’re here. And it’s why we are joined now, and we’re very pleased to be, by U.S. Senator David Perdue, one of the Republicans up on the 5 of January with early voting starting next Monday, this coming Monday, the 14 of December. Senator Perdue, welcome back to the show. Merry Christmas to you.
SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): Merry Christmas, Guy. Thank you.
BENSON: So, I want to start actually with a question about COVID relief. I know your opponent in this race, John Ossoff, has been all over the map on that issue. He doesn’t really want to get bogged down in the details, even though that’s kind of the job and he’s had some hypocrisy involving PPP and his father’s company, but you, as a sitting senator, have to look at some of the options on the table in Washington. There’s a lot of discussion right now about possible negotiations and a bipartisan compromise and some sort of deal coming together. I know Leader McConnell has his position. Nancy Pelosi has radically shifted her position because of the election — the presidential election’s over. What are you hearing about what might actually come to the Senate floor in terms of legislation? What would you be willing to support?
PERDUE: Let me give a little perspective. It’s a great question. It’s the number one question I get. We’re running around the state right now on our bus tour, 120 plus stops. You know, it’s a win Georgia, save America tour. But I get this question on every stop. You know, first of all, in the first round of CARES Act, we brought $47 million to Georgia. And that saved a billion – 1.5 million jobs in Georgia and helped our hospitals survive, our small businesses. We need another slug right now. My opponent doesn’t want to get bogged down in the details, as you highlighted. And the hypocrisy is, his dad, while people were struggling in here, the average loan size was only $100,000, his dad got $350,000, and Stacey Abrams’ business got $350 and Omar – Representative Omar got over $600,000. The hypocrisy here is amazing. And now they’re roadblocking us because they don’t want Republicans to be seen as having a win before these two Senate races on January the 5. It’s the same thing they did in November when they blocked us again. We had bills out there and they just blocked us every single time. Right now, I’m willing to do anything short of a big state bail out. I am very concerned about the money we’re spending. I think we can reprogram some of the Main Street money that has not been spent and put that in the PPP program. That’s the main thing. And get some help for our distribution of this vaccine, Guy. Those are the major priorities in my mind.
BENSON: We’ve seen this notion now from McConnell a few times, saying a real sticking point on the left seems to be liability reform, which he, McConnell, had said was a redline for him. He said he’s willing to push that into the future if necessary, in order to get something done here. He said by the same token the sticking point on the right among many conservatives is what you just referenced, exactly how to give money to state and local governments. And they need some help related to COVID. The concern is, how much money would they get and would they be able to use those funds to paper over other fiscal disasters that they’ve created for themselves that have nothing to do with coronavirus or the pandemic at all? So, you’ve got liability reform on one hand. You’ve got the state and local issue on the other. McConnell saying, let’s broom both of those. Put those in later legislation. We’ll get to that at some point. Let’s just do stuff that is less controversial and agreed upon now. And it sounds like at least for the moment Democratic leadership is balking at that suggestion. What do you think about that idea? Is that something that you could support, what McConnell is proposing?
PERDUE: Guy, I spent 40 years in the business world, and my last job was at Dollar General where we helped people get from payday to payday. Our top priority right now is to help get an investment – get a return on the investment on the money we’ve already spent, and that means helping these small businesses get through these next few months until the vaccine takes hold and we get enough people under coverage there. That’s the number one priority. Our small towns and communities need help. A lot of our hospitals still need help. We need money for distribution of this vaccine. I was with the secretary of Health and Human Services yesterday, and we were working on that on the airplane. Those are priorities. I agree with the compromise — and look, nobody’s going to like that, I don’t like it either. But right now, the top priority is to get help to the people who need it most and these are the smallest of the small business. We’re talking about $100,000 per loan, 10 employees. That’s the average size of the people we’ve helped so far. And to me, anything we can do on a compromise that can help get that out there right now is what we need to do.
BENSON: Senator, let’s turn to the race itself. I have to tell you, I was at the gym at the hotel here yesterday, and I was watching one of the local channels, and I swear there were multiple commercial breaks where I’m pretty sure every single ad was a political ad about these Senate races. I learned about how terrible and criminal you are. I learned about how terrible and myopic Senator Loeffler is. Then I learned about how Jon Ossoff is unaccomplished and Reverend Warnock is a radical. And it was just, round and round it went. It’s got to be a lot for the voters here to take in, the amount of money pouring into this state, the amount of staffers and volunteers. Have you ever seen anything like this in your career politically?
PERDUE: Guy, no, I don’t have a political career. I ran one time in 2014 –
(LAUGHTER)
BENSON: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BENSON: You’re a business guy.
PERDUE: I had a business career and so – but I have a unique perspective of this. I’m not from the inside, so I’m an outsider in the belly of the beast here. Let’s remember this is a runoff. The general election, I’ve already won. I beat the Democrat by two points, the Libertarian got two points. So, what we’re trying to do right now is to make sure we got our vote back out and win this thing. But no, I’ve never seen anything like this. You take the political energy in the entire country and focus it on one state and Senate races. Kelly Loeffler and I are both outside business people who bring a unique perspective to the United States Senate, have a history and a legacy of getting results, and that’s what we’re bringing to the people of Georgia. And that’s why we’re in this one off. We have a strange 50 percent plus one rule that pulled me into it. And so, we’re fighting now to – we know we’re the last line of defense, Guy, as you’ve been talking about.
BENSON: Yes.
PERDUE: If we lose this race, Chuck Schumer will get total control. We heard AOC say that she doesn’t – we have to have – they have to have those two seats because they don’t want to negotiate. They want the Green New Deal without compromise. And we know the agenda that they printed out is the Democratic platform. It’s extremely liberal, it’s dangerous, it’s even radical. So, I think that the country knows — and I’m betting on the people of Georgia understand what’s at stake, and they’re going to come back out and vote in an unusual way.
BENSON: So, let me ask you two questions, slightly challenging questions. One has to do with your decision not to debate your opponent Jon Ossoff recently. We saw Senator Loeffler and Reverend Warnock going head-to-head on Sunday. And everyone was talking about that, tweeting about that. Ossoff had this sort of forum with an empty podium and saying, oh, Perdue’s a chicken, he won’t show up. I know that you had debated him already a couple of times in the general election. You made a strategic choice not to go round three with him. Why did you do that? Because I’ve heard from some conservatives around the country saying, hey, do you think that was smart, why did he do that? I said, you know what, I will ask him directly on the show. So that’s what I’m doing. What was that decision? What was behind that decision?
PERDUE: Well, remember, Kelly has not had a one-on-one with Raphael Warnock.
BENSON: Right.
PERDUE: And so, that makes total sense that she debated him in a runoff. It’s unusual to have debates like this in runoffs because you’ve already litigated the issues. You’ve exposed the other candidate. We’ve done that twice with this guy. And all he did in those debates was lie. So, we made a strategic decision to let him have the microphone for 30 minutes and show Georgia just what an empty seat he really is. And he exposed that he supports blanket amnesty without even being challenged. There was nobody in the other podium. I mean, he wants a national lockdown right now. And he said — this is the worse one, he said you know, what would you do to help the people of Georgia get through the rest of this pandemic? He said, well, I don’t think we should get blogged down in detail. I mean, that’s outrageous, Guy. I mean, goodness gracious. I mean, that’s just – that’s a perfect answer of somebody that’s been set up in life by his daddy and has never really done anything on his own. You know, this is the only debate in American history, Guy, where a politician want-to-be — and that’s what he is — debated an empty podium, and the podium won. And so that’s what we knew would happen, and we exposed him without saying a word; he did it on his own.
BENSON: And I do think it’s a very important point to note, because some people who aren’t political junkies may not recognize the reason both seats are up is because there was a vacancy. So, Senator Loeffler was an appointed senator. She was in what’s called a jungle primary, that’s what it’s referred to, where any number of people from all the parties can all run together at the same time, and then the top two vote getters advance to a run off. So, she was in this jungle primary with like, 17 opponents or whatever. There has not been a one-on-one debate between her and Warnock. And that is a distinction, as you say, about your race — or from your race. You’ve debated Ossoff twice. One of his repeated claims about you, and I’ve seen it some of the ads that he’s running here, is that you’re a crook, you’ve done unethical things. And you’ve had counter ads that we’ve seen on the air saying there have been multiple investigations into the claim, and you’ve been cleared completely every time. And you sort of wonder, Senator, at some point if he’s unwilling to recognize that when investigations clear someone the issue sort of goes away and becomes moot. It seems like he’s kind of grasping desperately at this claim to call you a crook — he loves using that word — and there’s no basis and actual fact. I mean, that’s pretty disturbing to me.
PERDUE: Well, it’s very disturbing. It shows that he really doesn’t have a platform or an agenda or a career. He can’t talk about what he wants to do, because most people in Georgia don’t want to defund the police or open borders or have illegal immigrants voting. So, I think what this shows is that they are desperate. You used the right word. They don’t have anything else to go on the positive side. So, all these millions — tens of millions — hundreds of millions of dollars that are coming in here against us on that have already been debunked. These are just total lies. And you don’t have to believe me or listen to me. I mean, you can listen to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, and even the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee, Guy. Democrats looked at the facts and said there’s nothing here. There was nothing untoward done. I’ve got to —
(CROSSTALK)
BENSON: Yes, he kept saying it. That’s just lying to people, right? That is — that is trying to paint you as someone who hasn’t been above board or perhaps even engaged in crimes, even though the verdict is in over and over again, and it’s been debunked. He keeps saying it, and I think that that’s a really outrageous thing, frankly. And I think hopefully the voters of Georgia are smart enough en masse to recognize what he’s doing, to send him packing. I do want to ask you this as well, Senator. We had the secretary of state from Georgia on the show yesterday, Brad Raffensperger. I know you and Senator Loeffler have called on him to resign. He has refused to do so. He systematically went through some of my questions and said he is absolutely confident the election was free and fair in November and that it will be again in January. I think he was pretty sensible and persuasive, personally. And I asked him this question, if you have both Republican senators asking you to resign, and you’re not going to do that, why are you endorsing them? Why are you going to vote for these two folks if they want you out of your job? He said, well, because the stakes are too high, because the Senate control matters immensely. And he’s a conservative, so he supports conservatives. My question for you is this. What can you say to voters here in Georgia to convince them that they should turn out, that the election will be fair? Because I think there are some Trump supporters worried, based on some of these narratives out there, that their votes may not count, or it could all be rigged and taken away from them no matter what, so why bother showing up. What’s your counterpoint to folks who might have that question mark in their head?
PERDUE: Well, Guy, the background of this is, we still don’t have, in my opinion, a full accounting of what happened in November. Nobody can tell me that the variance between the ballots and the ballot envelopes, nobody can tell me the variances on signature verifications. You can’t tell me an entire county of Fulton County, our largest county, had zero, zero signatures thrown out. Zero signatures thrown out. You can’t tell me that that is valid, and that’s reasonable. That doesn’t fit any history of any other state or Georgia. So, I can’t understand how this election was certified. Now, going forward in January that’s my total focus right now, is to make sure that the anomalies that created this question in November is taken care of. So here’s the — here’s what I tell people — we get that question all over, Guy — thank you — is that you have got to come out and vote no matter what happened in November. We are doing everything we can. I am as a candidate. As a federal officer, I can’t do much in the state, but we can put pressure on in the courts. And we’re doing that to try to make sure that we get a fair accounting in January. We know what they were doing. Now we’re going to make sure they don’t do it again.
BENSON: And so, you are confident that on January the 5, and all the early voting that starts this coming Monday, you’re confident that the system will work well enough that every conservative and Republican living in this state can feel comfortable showing up and voting for you and for Kelly Loeffler.
PERDUE: Whether they’re comfortable or not, Guy, I’m telling you this as best I can, they don’t have a choice. They have got to vote. We did it in November. I beat this guy two points; there’s another two points there to be had. We can do it again. But they don’t have a choice. If they don’t vote, they’re just handing the keys to the Democrats, and we know what’s going to happen. So we–
BENSON: Yes.
PERDUE: — have to trust the system and get the vote out. If you want to help, go to PerdueSenate.com. And we just got to help our friends and family and associates to get out and vote. It’s our responsibility. The world’s depending on this. I’m telling you. The eyes of America on Georgia right now, I’m living it every day, Guy. Kelly and I are fighting as hard as we can to make sure we don’t let these Democrats get total control.
BENSON: Yes, that’s huge. And we know that their base is motivated. We know that they have huge money behind them. We know that Democrats are going to turn out in the state of Georgia. They’re energized. They’re excited. They feel like they can make this into a blue state potentially. And it’s up to everyone else in the state of Georgia, who don’t have an interest in unified Democrat control of the whole country, to stand up and say, not so fast, no thank you. And this is where it all comes down to, right here in this state of Georgia. And it’s the difference between David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler and Mitch McConnell and others running the Senate versus Chuck Schumer and Kamala Harris being a tie-breaking vote. And I mean, it doesn’t get any starker than that, honestly. With Nancy Pelosi and the House with her gavel, President-elect Joe Biden at the White House, the last line of defense here is in Georgia. And we’ve heard it not just from Perdue and Loeffler, but from President Trump, from Donald Trump Jr., from the entire Trump campaign, the entire Republican Party. And that’s why the attention is so bright and it’s white-hot here in the peach state. That’s why we’re broadcasting from Atlanta today as we did yesterday. Senator David Perdue of Georgia, one of the people on that ballot on the 5 of January. Senator, we are rooting for you. We appreciate your time. Have a great Christmas, and let’s catch up again soon.
PERDUE: Merry Christmas, Guy. Thank you very much.
BENSON: Senator David Perdue on “The Guy Benson Show.” Back after this.
