Donald Trump Preemptively Shirks Blame for 'Potential Loss' of Georgia Runoffs After Triggering GOP Civil War

President Donald Trump has said Georgia Republicans will be responsible if two GOP senators lose their seats in runoff elections in the state on January 5. Democratic victories in both races would hand the party control of the Senate.

Trump criticized Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Twitter on Monday as he warned that Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue could be defeated.

"RINOS @BrianKempGA ,@GeoffDuncanGA, & Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, will be solely responsible for the potential loss of our two GREAT Senators from Georgia, @sendavidperdue & @KLoeffler," Trump wrote.

"Won't call a Special Session or check for Signature Verification! People are ANGRY!"

RINO (Republican In Name Only) is a term used to criticize members of the Republican Party who are seen as insufficiently conservative.

Kemp has been a staunch supporter of Trump but President-elect Joe Biden's election victory in Georgia has seen him face harsh criticism for a perceived refusal to look into unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

Raffensperger won praise from outside his party for dismissing the Trump campaign's fraud claims but became a target of the president's anger. Georgia recertified its election results on Monday following a third count.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called on Kemp to act in order to tamp down a potential Republican "civil war" on Monday. Graham wants the governor to call a special legislative session to audit the election in the state.

"If you're not fighting for Trump now when he needs you the most as a Republican leader in Georgia, people are not going to fight for you when you ask them to get reelected," Graham told Fox News' Sean Hannity.'

"There's a civil war brewing in Georgia for no good reason. It's not unreasonable to ask the legislature to come back in and order an audit of the signatures in the presidential race to see if the system worked. What is unreasonable is to sit on your ass and do nothing when you've got a chance to save the country.

"The governor of Georgia could call a legislative session into being tomorrow to go ahead and audit the signatures so we'd have confidence in the presidential outcome," he said. "Maybe it worked, I don't know without an audit."

Raffensperger had said on Sunday that a special session to overturn the election "would be then nullifying the will of the people," according to Politico. Duncan, Georgia's lieutenant governor, also rejected the idea of a special session.

"Calling the General Assembly back in at this point would almost be along the lines of a solution trying to find a problem," Duncan told CNN on Sunday. "And we're certainly not going to move the goalposts at this point in the election. We are going to continue to follow the letter of the law, which gives us a very clear-cut direction as to how to execute an election."

"Georgia Lt. Governor @GeoffDuncanGA is a RINO Never Trumper who got himself elected as LG by falsely claiming to be 'pro-Trump,'" Trump tweeted on Monday.

"Too dumb or corrupt to recognize massive evidence of fraud in GA & should be replaced! We need every great Georgian to call him out! #SpecialSession!"

Loeffler and Perdue are seeking reelection as these divisions in the GOP appear to be deepening. If Republican turnout is depressed as a result, the "civil war" could end up costing the party the Senate.