Facing empty lectern, Jon Ossoff calls David Perdue a 'coward' for skipping another Georgia Senate debate

Incumbent Sen. David Perdue was ripped by his Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff as a "coward" Sunday, when Ossoff faced off against an empty lectern because the Georgia Republican had declined to participate in their televised debate. 

"It's a strange situation to be asking a question of a sitting United States senator who is not here to debate as he asks for the votes of the people to be reelected," Ossoff said from the podium.

"It shows an astonishing arrogance and sense of entitlement for Georgia’s senior U.S. senator to believe he shouldn’t have to debate at a moment like this in our history,” Ossoff said. "Your senator is refusing to answer questions and debate his opponent because he believes he shouldn't have to. He believes this Senate seat belongs to him. This Senate seat belongs to the people." 

Perdue, who also skipped the final debate against Ossoff prior to Election Day, did not attend the debate because he wished to instead spend the time connecting with voters, his staff told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Perdue campaign manager Ben Fry claimed Ossoff's solo debate performance was an "epic failure." 

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"Tonight we witnessed something we didn't know was possible: a candidate lost a debate against himself," Fry said in a statement. "Jon Ossoff came out in support of blanket amnesty, a national lockdown, and made clear he doesn't want to 'get bogged down in the details' about additional COVID relief. These are serious times and Jon Ossoff just showed how unserious – and unprepared – he really is."  

Ossoff opined that Perdue avoided the debate because he "doesn't feel that he can handle himself" or "perhaps is concerned that he may incriminate himself."

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The latter statement referred to allegations that Perdue took advantage of classified briefings about the coronavirus to make a number of profitable stock trades in the early days of the pandemic, even as he downplayed the threat. Perdue’s trades also involved companies whose business activities fall under the jurisdiction of some of the senator’s committees.

When the moderator pointed out that reviews by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department did not lead to any charges against Perdue, Ossoff insisted "his blatant abuse of his power and privilege to enrich himself is disgraceful," adding, "The standard for our elected officials must be higher than merely evading prosecution." 

Ossoff also attacked Perdue on multiple social media platforms for failing to take part in the debate.

"I showed up to debate tonight," Ossoff wrote on Twitter, "David Perdue pleaded the fifth." 

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He also shared posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok that responded to Perdue's no-show with a chicken emoji. 

Perdue edged Osssoff in the Nov. 3 general election by just over 88,000 votes, but because neither candidate garnered 50% or more of the vote, Georgia law requires the top two finishers to face off in a runoff, scheduled for Jan. 5. 

Likewise, Sen. Kelly Loeffler – who also faced a challenge from a fellow Republican, former Rep. Doug Collins – failed to win a majority of the vote, finishing with 25.9% to her Democratic opponent Raphael Warnock's 32.9%. Collins ended up with just over 20% of the vote. Loeffler and Warnock also face off in the January runoff. Loeffler attended her debate against Warnock on Sunday. 

Contributing: The Associated Press 

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