Susan Rice urges Georgia voters to help Democrats rectify America’s ‘near-death experience’ under Trump

Former national security adviser Susan Rice implored Georgia voters to cast their ballots for Democrats in the state’s upcoming runoffs, stating that removing the Republican incumbents would undo what she says is the damage done by President Trump to the United States.  

A pair of runoff races in Georgia on Jan. 5 will determine which party will control the upper chamber. Democrats have kept control of the House. 

Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will face off against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively. Should Democrats win both races, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s vote will give Democrats the majority in the Senate. 

In an op-ed published in The New York Times Tuesday, Rice said that it is imperative Georgians vote out the Republican incumbents. 

“So, bolstering our democracy depends in large part on the people of Georgia voting out their incumbent senators on Jan. 5. If the Senate flips to Democratic control, Congress will be able to apply the lessons of our democracy’s near-death experience,” Rice said.

“Now is no time for self-congratulation or complacency. We must act with the unique urgency and courage of those who know they are living on borrowed time.”

She continued to say that in electing President-elect Joe Biden, the U.S. dodged a bullet. 

“It appears that our democracy dodged a bullet — or, more precisely, multiple concerted efforts by the president of the United States to torpedo its very foundations,” Rice wrote. 

“Mr. Trump and his political allies have been employing nearly every weapon at their disposal to try to retain the White House, notwithstanding the will of the people.”

Since Biden was projected as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Trump has declined to concede, alleging without evidence that widespread voter fraud led to an unfair election.

Biden has proceeded with the transition process as Trump’s attorneys and allies have mounted several legal battles in key swing states. A majority of these battles have been dismissed by local and state courts. 

In her op-ed, Rice said that after Biden’s victory and the rejection of the Trump campaign’s lawsuits, “our democracy has held.” 

“Perhaps only when the stars are optimally aligned — when voters turn out in huge numbers, when the outcome is not close, when state and local officials and the courts adhere to the rule of law, when foreign interference is thwarted, when the media behaves responsibly and when people remain peaceful — can our democracy endure its greatest tests.”

Rice served as national security adviser under former President Obama and was on Biden’s shortlist for the vice presidency.