President Donald Trump could deliver the unifying boost Republican incumbents have been dreaming about Saturday when he holds his first rally in Georgia since losing the election.

Or he could deal them lasting damage by intensifying his war with Georgia Republicans who refused his demands to overturn the election results and casting more doubt on the integrity of the state’s voting system.

Either way, the president’s visit to Valdosta to hold what he dubbed a “Trump rally” before thousands of supporters will be a standout moment in the Jan. 5 runoffs for control of the U.S. Senate — and his first major campaign event since his November defeat.

And on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence will campaign with U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in Savannah — about the same time former President Barack Obama joins a virtual event with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Trump is showing no signs of letting up his attacks on state Republicans, including a tweet Thursday that amplified his anger at Gov. Brian Kemp for not obstructing the certification of results that showed Joe Biden narrowly carrying the state.

Kemp’s office has issued reminders that state law prohibits the governor from “interfering” with an election. But the constant attacks underscore two of the most pressing challenges for the two Republican runoff candidates.

The first is whether Trump’s unfounded claim that the elections were “rigged” will dampen voter enthusiasm. There was evidence of that at a pro-Trump rally Wednesday in Alpharetta, where a former member of his legal team encouraged Republicans to boycott the runoff.

“I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all until your vote is secure,” said Sidney Powell, spreading the debunked conspiracy theory that election machines were rigged to a cheering crowd of more than 1,000 supporters.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

The second is whether the infighting will irreparably divide the Georgia GOP at a time when Republicans are desperate for unity. Resurgent Democrats flipped the state for the first time in a presidential race since 1992 and are coalescing behind a joint Ossoff-Warnock ticket.

“It all depends on what he actually says when he gets down here,” Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz said.

“Does he shift gears and focus attention on strong turnout and downplay his grievances over his defeat? Or does he continue to talk about how the election was stolen from him and attack fellow Republicans in Georgia?” Abamowitz said. “If it’s the second, it’s bad news for Republicans.”

‘Increasing concern’

The Republican candidates have little choice but to take the risk. Perdue has been blunt about the GOP strategy at every campaign stop: The two senators are singularly focused on mobilizing the state’s pool of 2.5 million or so Trump supporters. And no one can do that quite like Trump.

The two senators have been wary of antagonizing the president by refusing to explicitly say that Biden won and promising to promote Trump’s agenda. They’ve also been silent on Trump’s criticism of Kemp, who picked Loeffler for the seat last year and is her chief political ally.

That tiptoeing has also robbed them of a key argument in the runoffs: That a Republican-controlled Senate can act as a check on a Democratic White House. Instead, the two incumbents have cast themselves as a GOP “firewall” in the Senate.

Georgia Republicans are more urgently pressing Trump supporters to shift their focus to the runoffs — and away from Trump’s grievances.

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com

More than a dozen former GOP elected officials, led by two-term Gov. Nathan Deal, penned a letter this week that expressed “increasing concern” that the backlash over the election would cost Republicans a shot at maintaining control of the Senate.

And Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer tried to tie Trump’s push for “election integrity” with the Jan. 5 votes.

“It is not one or the other. It is not one after the other,” Shafer said on social media, encouraging Republicans to vote for the two incumbents. “We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted or divided.”

The fissures won’t be easy to close. Kemp, who has accompanied Trump at just about every one of his visits in Georgia, still hasn’t said whether he’ll join the president at Saturday’s event. Either way, he could be target practice for Trump at the rally — deepening the GOP rift.

“Clearly, there are some Republicans who aren’t crazy about Trump and may have voted for Biden,” said Abramowitz, the Emory political scientist.

“But you need them to come back for the runoff — and it’s not helping when you’ve got Republicans amplifying attacks on state GOP officials,” he said.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC