Joe Biden butchers Jon Ossoff's name at Georgia rally
'Honk for your next United States Senator Jon Orsoff!'
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President-elect Joe Biden mispronounced Democratic Senate hopeful John Ossoff's name during an election event Tuesday ahead of the crucial runoff races.
"Honk for your next United States Senator Jon Orsoff!" Biden said in Atlanta while stumping for Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in his first campaign event since clinching the presidential election in November-- including the state of Georgia, which has historically been red.
BIDEN CAMPAIGNS IN GEORGIA RUNOFFS, HOPING FOR DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED SENATE
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Although Biden's frequent gaffes have been a laughing matter for his opponents, the president-elect's trip comes the day after members of the Electoral College met in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, formalizing the former vice president’s 306-232 electoral vote victory over President Trump.
Biden narrowly carried Georgia in the presidential election, making him the first Democrat to win the state in the White House race in more than a quarter-century.
Biden's presence in the state further emphasizes the need for a Democratic win if his presidency is to put forth meaningful legislation to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle other issues during his administration.
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Democrats would need to secure both of Georgia's Senate seats during the runoffs, which would then lead to a 50-50 tie of lawmakers in the upper chamber. The tie-breaking vote would then fall to incoming Vice President Kamala Harris. It would mean the Democrats would control both houses of Congress as well as the White House, which Republicans desperately want to avoid.
"Your two Republican senators fully embraced what Texas was telling the Supreme Court," Biden said, taking aim at Republican incumbents Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who both supported the Trump-backed lawsuit to challenge the presidential results, which were tossed out by the Supreme Court. "They fully embraced nullifying nearly 5 million Georgia votes. You might want to remember that come Jan. 5."
Further punctuating the importance of this specific race is the massive spending effort by Biden and his party to get Ossoff and Warnock elected.
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Biden’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have spent roughly $5 million so far in the two Jan. 5 elections, a Biden campaign official confirmed on Friday to Fox News. The president-elect’s also paying for about 50 staff members based in Georgia to remain in the key battleground state. And the campaign adds that its efforts in the state are being aided by approximately a dozen analytics and tech staffers.
The Biden campaign and DNC are also raising money directly for Ossoff and Warnock, with sources confirming to Fox News that roughly $10 million has already been raised. The president-elect on Thursday announced the launch of the “Flip Georgia Fund,” as he urged supporters to donate to Ossoff and Warnock.
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Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.