Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff delivered a verbal one-two punch when a Fox News crew approached him at a campaign stop on live TV
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
- Jon Ossoff, the Democratic challenger to Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, took a jab at the state's two Republican Senators ahead of the runoff election next week.
- Ossoff ripped Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler and accused them of "blatantly" using their offices to "enrich themselves."
- Both Perdue and Loeffler were accused of insider trading.
- Ossoff also claimed that attacks on Loeffler's challenger Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock were ploys to distract away from Loeffler "campaigning" with a former Klansman.
- Loeffler was photographed earlier this month with Chester Doles, a former KKK chief and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, but denied knowing who he was.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff took the opportunity to slam Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue for what he alleged was using their offices to "enrich themselves" after a Fox News crew approached him while live on air.
Ossoff is in a runoff election against Perdue, and he called on the Fox News audience to look beyond partisanship ahead of the runoff election.
"We have two United States senators in Georgia who have blatantly used their offices to enrich themselves. This is beyond partisanship. And the reason to your question that I talk about health and jobs and justice for all the people is that we can unite behind that program," Ossoff claimed.
—Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) December 31, 2020
He proposed working to reopen the nine rural hospitals that closed in the state, raise the minimum wage, and pass "landmark civil rights and voting rights legislation to secure equal justice for all."
Both Loeffler and Perdue have shrugged off criticism over buying and selling stocks while in office.
The US Justice Department began an investigation into Loeffler after she sold millions of dollars in stocks in January following a private briefing on the coronavirus. Loeffler, a multimillionaire, is also married to the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
The investigation did not lead to charges, but Loeffler has avoided answering questions about whether or not US senators should be allowed to trade stocks when they're still in office and recently called questions into her trading a "left-wing media lie" and a "conspiracy."
Perdue also came under scrutiny for buying stock in a personal protective equipment company on the same day he got a classified Senate briefing on the coronavirus. A US Justice Department investigation was also dropped without charges.
Ossoff also addressed whether allegations of domestic abuse against Rev. Raphael Warnock who is working to unseat Loeffler would hinder the Democratic ticket.
Warnock's ex-wife accused the candidate of running over her foot during a domestic dispute in March in newly released police body-camera footage.
Ouleye Ndoye told officers Warnock ran over her foot while trying to leave with their two children.
"This man's running for the United States Senate, and all he cares about right now is his reputation," Ndoye can be heard telling the officer.
Warnock told officers that he believed he was far away and had barely moved his car.
"I barely moved," he said. "And all of a sudden she's screaming that I ran over her foot. I don't believe it."
He was not charged with a crime and medical officials said there wasn't any sign of injury to Ndoye's foot.
Ossoff said the accusations against Warnock were an attempt by Loeffler to "distract from the fact that she's campaigning with a former member of the Ku Klux Klan."
Earlier this month, Loeffler was photographed with Chester Doles, a former KKK chief and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance.
Doles posted the photo of himself and Loeffler on the Russian social network VKontakte (VK) on Friday with the caption "Kelly Leoffener [sic] and I. Save America, stop Socialism!"
Loeffler said that she did not know who Doles was when she posed for the photo.
"Kelly had no idea who that was, and if she had she would have kicked him out immediately because we condemn in the most vociferous terms everything that he stands for," Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for Loeffler's campaign.
Loeffler's office did not reply to Business Insider's request for comment at the time of publication.
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