President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday night to criticize Republican officials in Georgia, including Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for failing to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the state.
The president also criticized Raffensperger's brother, saying he works for China. That is inaccurate. "I love the Great State of Georgia, but the people who run it, from the Governor, @BrianKempGA, to the Secretary of State, are a complete disaster and don't have a clue, or worse. Nobody can be this stupid. Just allow us to find the crime, and turn the state Republican," Trump wrote.
"Now it turns out that Brad R's brother works for China, and they definitely don't want 'Trump'. So disgusting!" the president added in a second tweet.
Trump is likely referring to Ron Raffensperger, CTO of Chinese technology firm Huawei. The two men are not related.
A conspiracy theory linking Georgia's secretary of state to Ron Raffensperger and Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election has made the rounds on social media in recent days.
Stephen Fowler, politics reporter with GPB News, Georgia's NPR and PBS station, tweeted an update.
I love the Great State of Georgia, but the people who run it, from the Governor, @BrianKempGA, to the Secretary of State, are a complete disaster and don’t have a clue, or worse. Nobody can be this stupid. Just allow us to find the crime, and turn the state Republican....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2020
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Georgia's Secretary of State does have a brother - who is a private citizen and not discussed much. He's also got sisters. None of them are named Ron, work for China or have to do with voting machine vendors.
— stephen fowler covers Georgia's election! (@stphnfwlr) December 30, 2020
More details below. #gapolhttps://t.co/ucUmXJ7xCj
The supposed link between the two men first appeared in an article published by The Gateway Pundit but which is no longer available. Dominion Voting Systems has been at the center of unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in the recent election.
Brad Raffensperger is a conservative Republican who's come under fire since November 3 for criticizing claims that the presidential election was somehow rigged in Georgia.
"There are those who are exploiting the emotions of many Trump supporters with fantastic claims, half-truths, misinformation, and frankly, they're misleading the president as well, apparently," Raffensperger has previously said, dismissing claims of mass voter fraud.
Correction, 12/30, 1:30 p.m.: This story originally said, inaccurately, that Brad Raffensperger did not have a brother. Newsweek regrets the mistake.
