Both President Trump and Joe Biden visited Georgia to campaign for their endorsed candidates in the Senate runoff election. The race is set to define which political party will control the Senate, which is crucial for the Democratic Party as it would give them control over all three houses of government.
During his campaign rally, President Trump pledged to “fight like hell” to remain in the White House. Trump also called on Vice President Mike Pence to challenge the election certification in Congress tomorrow, in his capacity as President of the Senate.
“I hope our great vice president comes through for us. He’s a great guy. Of course, if he doesn’t come through I won’t like him quite as much,” quipped Trump.
Joe Biden criticized Trump's attempts to challenge the election results, calling Republican Candidates Perdue and Loeffler "obstructionist Trump loyalists." He also linked the Democratic candidates with the $2,000 stimulus checks that were recently rejected by the Republican-dominated senate.
More than 3 million Georgians voted early, with 928,000 voting by mail while the rest chose to cast their vote in person.
The pandemic continues to worsen in the United States as COVID-19 spreads further around the country, which is the most affected in the world. So far, 21,353,051 infections have been reported in the United States, as well as 362,123 total deaths. The current vaccination campaign is being criticized for being too slow, with only 4.5 million people having received the first dosage, even though the government planned to distribute around 20 million before the end of last year.
The fact that the Democrats could end up controlling the entire U.S. government, as well as Trump's attempts to challenge the electoral results, led to anxiety in the US stock markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 1.25 percent during Monday's session, closing at the 30,223.89 level, followed by the S&P 500, which fell by 1.48 percent and closed the session at the 3,700.65 level. Similarly, the NASDAQ 100 fell by 1.50 percent, closing at the 12,694.67 level, followed by the NYSE Composite which fell by 1.02 percent, hitting the 14,376.70 level at the end of the session.
By 8:09, the US Dollar Index fell by 0.06 percent, dropping to the 89.81 level.