In Georgia Senate runoffs, Democrats relegate Trump's fraud claims to sideshow status

And his efforts to discount votes in Democratic-leaning areas seek to disenfranchise voters — many of them Black voters — whom Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, the two Democratic candidates, are working to turn out again in the Jan. 5 runoffs.Asked about Trump's attempts to undermine the result of the election after that same Thursday campaign event, Ossoff said he viewed the efforts as "an open attack on the voting rights of Black Americans in Georgia.""Look, Republicans might not be successful this time around, but they're clearly laying the groundwork for attacks on our democracy in the years to come, and that is obviously very worrying," an Ossoff campaign spokesman told NBC News, adding, "We're not laughing this off at all, but our campaign's incredibly focused on turning out the people who voted for Joe Biden."During a virtual rally the following day alongside 2018 gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, the voting rights activist credited as the key player in flipping Georgia blue for the first time in decades, and former President Barack Obama, Democrats stuck to outlining the difference a Democratic vs. Geoff Duncan said that “is not an option that is allowed under state or federal law," adding, "The judicial system remains the only viable — and quickest — option in disputing" the results.For Republicans, Trump's crusade has played a central role in the campaign thus far, with his refusal to accept the results limiting just how far Loeffler and Perdue can go in promoting themselves as the last line of defense against the Democratic agenda."What's at stake is the Senate majority," Loeffler said during Sunday's debate with Warnock when asked if her framing of the importance of her election amounted to an acknowledgment that Trump had lost.When the president visited Georgia on Saturday, he forcefully pushed back on calls from some allies who said Republicans should stay home next month in protest of last month's election.