Newt Gingrich: McConnell's Play on $2K Checks Risk Georgia Races

Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are risking throwing away Georgia's two Republican seats by playing "parliamentary games" with President Donald Trump's call for $2,000 COVID relief checks, according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

"It (is) important for the Senate Republicans to get a grip, and not try to play parliamentary games with the president's $2,000 payment," Gingrich, a Fox News contributor, said on "America's Newsroom," pointing out that both GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are fighting for reelection in next week's runoff races, said they favor Trump's proposal. 

McConnell's proposal, which does not appear to be headed for a win, includes forming a commission to investigate the 2020 election and a call to repeal big tech liability protections.

"The Senate Republicans risk throwing away two seats to controlled the Senate when they play parliamentary games instead of having a straight up or down vote," Gingrich said. "I would beg (McConnell) to bring up the $2,000 payment as a freestanding independent vote."

After that, the Georgia runoffs will depend on voter turnout "and making sure the ballot count is honest," said Gingrich.

Meanwhile, Gingrich also said U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, the sister of former Rep. Stacey Abrams, should have recused herself from a high-profile election fraud case in Georgia. 

"How can you have your sister on the bench when you've given $2.5 million to the people filing the suit?" Gingrich said. "How can your sister pretend to be a judge that's going to be neutral. This is one more example of why this year has had the most corrupt elections I think in my lifetime and maybe 100 years."

Gardner on Monday ruled against purging more than 4,100 Georgia voters before the upcoming Senate runoff races, finding that Georgia's Muscogee and Ben Hill counties relied improperly on unverified change-of-address data. 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a news release Tuesday that Abrams' organization Fair Fight donated $2.5 million to Senate Majority PAC. The plaintiff in the lawsuit, Majority Forward is the PAC's nonprofit arm. 

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