Ossoff: “Change has come to Georgia. Change is coming to America. And retirement is coming for Senator David Perdue.”
Atlanta, Ga. — Joined by more than a hundred enthusiastic supporters, family, friends, and staff this morning in Grant Park, investigative journalist and Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jon Ossoff delivered remarks and discussed the next phase of the election as the race against Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) heads to a January 5, 2021 runoff.
Ossoff spoke about the historic results and turnout in Georgia this week and what’s ahead in his bid to defeat Perdue.
He also spoke about how a majority of Georgians rejected Perdue and his failed record at the ballot box, and how they will do the same in January.
Please click here to view Ossoff’s remarks, you can find a full copy to download here, and you can view a transcript below.
Please find a full transcript from Ossoff’s remarks below:
“Thank you all so, so much for being here. It means the world to me to see y’all here.
“Most of all, I want to thank the amazing people of this state. The millions of Georgia voters who have stood up in record-shattering numbers to demand change for our state and change in this country.
“When Congressman Lewis marched across that bridge 55 years ago to demand the sacred right to vote for all Americans, it was so that we the people could decide who represents us, could demand that our interests, our health, our prosperity, our rights, be upheld, respected, and expanded, so that we could have moments like this one, where Georgians in their millions have said, ‘enough.’ Enough incompetence, deceit, corruption, division.
“Change has come to Georgia. Change is coming to America.
“And retirement is coming for Senator David Perdue, because the majority of Georgians have stood up to reject his request for a second term — a senator who saw fit to continue to attack our health care in the midst of a pandemic. A senator who told us that this disease that’s taken a quarter of a million American lives was no deadlier than the ordinary flu — while he looked out for himself.
“A senator who has shown no spine and no independence, who has sold out our values and our interests to his donors and to this president.
“Retirement is coming for Senator David Perdue.
“See, Senator Perdue feels entitled to this U.S. Senate seat. This is the guy who hasn’t held a single public town hall meeting in six years as our senator. Just imagine being a sitting United States Senator, and he happily will sell meetings for corporate PAC checks.
“He sells access to his home for corporate money. He sells lavish retreats on private islands to lobbyists for corporate PAC money, but he hasn’t seen fit to come out in public and defend his record or answer questions from the people at a public town hall meeting in six years. And then when it comes time for Senator Perdue to answer some questions in public, when it comes time for Senator Perdue to debate his opponent, he doesn’t take kindly to being asked tough questions.
“And he refuses to debate in an open forum, because Senator Perdue cannot defend the indefensible, he cannot defend attacking our health care in the midst of a pandemic. He cannot defend misleading us so profoundly about a threat to our health and our prosperity, that’s taken such a human tragedy. He cannot defend being such a weak enabler of this president, who doesn’t deserve his loyalty or our support.
“See, what we’re demanding, what we deserve from our leaders, what we deserve from our government, it’s not that complicated. It’s not mysterious. We believe that every single Georgia family should have access to affordable housing, affordable health care, education without debt, dignified work that pays a living wage, equal justice under the law regardless of race, and regardless of class.
“It’s not that complicated. We expect our leaders to unite us to confront threats like this pandemic, to appeal to us to see what brings us together, rather than drives us apart, to remind us, y’all, that we’re all Americans, we’re all in this together. We rise or we fall together. This isn’t about red versus blue. This isn’t about party labels. This is about human lives, human decency, human rights, the human consequences of elections.
“So now this race is headed to a runoff. And the people of Georgia will decide on January 5th, 2021, who represents us in the United States Senate. We have all the momentum. We have all the energy. We’re on the right side of history. Y’all ready to work?
“We’re just getting started. Thank you so much for being here, I appreciate it.”
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