Jon Ossoff calls opponent a “coward” after he refuses debate in special runoff election

Jon Ossoff

By David Ian Klein November 16, 2020

Georgia Sen. David Perdue, the Republican incumbent in a runoff against Democrat Jon Ossoff declined another debate before the Jan. 5 special election that will decide the winner — and will be represented at the event by an empty podium.

David “empty podium” Perdue https://t.co/bARdzKVQvm

— Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) November 16, 2020

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Ossoff called Perdue a “coward” on Twitter.

Looks like Sen. David Perdue is too much of a coward to debate me again.

Perdue can’t defend his lies about COVID-19, self-dealing stock trades, his bigotry, or his votes to take away Georgians’ health care.

Senator, come on out and try to defend your record. I’m ready to go. https://t.co/OONfwSjylt

— Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) November 15, 2020

Neither Ossoff nor Perdue surpassed the 51% threshold to claim the seat outright in the Nov. 3 election, therefore, under Georgia’s electoral law, a runoff race was set for early January.

The race for Georgia’s other Senate seat is also a runoff and the Atlanta Press Club said that it sent out invitations to candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Sen. Kelly Loeffler, for a similar debate.

David Ian Klein covers breaking news and international Jewish communities for the Forward. You can reach him at Klein@forward.com and on Twitter @davidianklein.

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