“Any conversations about election fraud hurts Republicans in Georgia…”

With President Trump traveling to Marietta today, former Georgia Senate President Pro Tem and Chair of RightCount Georgia Eric Johnson spoke with White House reporter Bo Erickson, warning that Trump’s renewed focus on unfounded 2020 fraud claims could depress turnout ahead of a competitive U.S. Senate race:

"Any conversations about election fraud hurts Republicans in Georgia," Johnson said. "President Trump's supporters are less likely to turn out when he casts doubt on the validity on the election process."

According to an analysis conducted by Reuters, Trump has questioned Georgia's voting system at least nine times in public events and interviews since January, including calling the 2020 result "rigged" in June. Georgia Republican leaders, including Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, have repeatedly dismissed those allegations, saying they have seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud. This interview comes on the heels of RightCount’s pushback on the president’s efforts last week to cherry-pick U.S. intelligence in an effort to undermine trust in election security during the forthcoming midterm elections.

"RightCount remains unyielding in its dedication to a simple truth: American elections are run by the states, secured by the Constitution, and verified by the rule of law. As we saw in 2016, the far-fetched notion that a foreign adversary subverted our decentralized electoral system is at odds with reality. Any attempt to validate false election claims using cherry-picked 'intelligence', or testimony from American adversaries, are without merit. Our system is secure because it belongs to the people and the states, not foreign autocrats or centralized federal power."

(RightCount Georgia Chair Eric Johnson, July 16, 2026)

Excerpts from today’s Reuters report can be found below.

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Trump to Campaign in Georgia as Republicans fear election claims could hurt turnout

Bo Erickson | July 22, 2026

MARIETTA, Georgia, July 22 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will campaign in Georgia on Wednesday amid Republican concerns that his renewed focus on election fraud claims could ​hurt the party's chances in one of the country's most competitive Senate races.

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The president's rally in Marietta, a politically competitive suburb north of Atlanta, will be his first campaign stop since a prime-time White House speech last week in which he questioned the security of elections nationwide.

Some Georgia Republicans worry Trump's message could backfire in November's midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake, by making his supporters less likely to vote in the belief the results might not be accurately counted.

"Any conversations about election fraud hurts Republicans in Georgia," said Eric Johnson, the former Republican leader of the Georgia Senate, who is state chair for RightCount, a conservative group that defends state-administered elections.

"President Trump’s supporters are less likely to turn out when he casts doubt on the validity on the election process," Johnson said.

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The 2020 election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden, remains a central focus for the Republican president, particularly in Georgia. Trump administration officials have launched investigations into the state's handling of the vote.

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"Republicans dread the President reheating his personal grievances and making it even harder for them in Georgia because they know he will only mobilize voters to rebuke him in November."

[Mike] Collins, who is expected to appear with Trump on Wednesday, has backed the president's push for stricter voting requirements. He told CNN in June that he believes Trump won the 2020 race in Georgia. Multiple recounts by the state confirmed his defeat.

“Election integrity is not a left or right issue, it's a deeply American issue. Ensuring voters are eligible and, in fact, are American citizens is vital to our democracy, and something that the vast majority of Americans support," Collins said in a statement.

A Fox News poll in July showed Ossoff leading Collins by 13 percentage points among registered voters.

Georgia law requires voters to show identification to vote. After the 2020 election, the state's Republican leaders also passed voting rules that limited ballot drop boxes and absentee ballots.