Biden hits Georgia campaign trail ahead of runoffs

[BIDEN] “...Y'all did something extraordinary in November. You voted in record numbers. You voted to improve the lives of many Georgians, and you voted as if your life depended on it. Well, guess what? Now you're going to have to do it again come January 5th…”

A day after the Electoral College confirmed his presidential victory, Joe Biden traveled to Georgia on Tuesday to campaign for two Democratic U.S. Senate candidates whose Jan. 5 runoff elections could make or break his domestic policy agenda.

[BIDEN] “I need two senators from this state, I want to get something done. Not two senators who are just going to get in the way because, look, getting nothing done just hurts Georgia. Look what's happening right now in the Congress. The United States Senate should have passed the coronavirus and economic relief package months ago.”

Biden's narrow win in the Southern state in November's presidential election completed its transformation from Republican stronghold to one of the country's most competitive political battlegrounds.

Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are facing Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively, in twin races that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate when Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

[OSSOFF] “Georgia sent Donald Trump packing. And now we're feeling hope in our hearts because for the first time in four years, we have the opportunity to define the next chapter in American history.”

[WARNOCK] "We say all the time that elections have consequences. But I have to tell you that after going through what all of us have witnessed these last several months, some three hundred thousand American souls that have now perished, to say that elections have consequences feels like a gross understatement.”

Biden's trip to Atlanta comes nine days after President Donald Trump traveled to Georgia in support of Perdue and Loeffler.

If the Republicans win either contest, they would maintain power in the Senate, allowing them to halt many of Biden's ambitious legislative goals on issues such as the coronavirus, the economy and climate change.

A Democratic sweep would give the party control of the White House and Congress, where it also has a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.