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Georgia's Republican secretary of state and his wife received texts telling them they deserve 'to face a firing squad' as Trump escalated his attacks on election results

Business Insider Australia logo Business Insider Australia 19/11/2020 Jake Lahut
a man wearing a suit and tie: Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state, during 2020 Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Service at Ebenezer Baptist Church on January 20, 2020, in Atlanta. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state, during 2020 Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Service at Ebenezer Baptist Church on January 20, 2020, in Atlanta.
  • Georgia's top election official revealed he and his wife have been receiving death threats as President Donald Trump escalates his attacks on the integrity of the Peach State's vote count.
  • Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, shared text messages sent to his wife with a local TV station.
  • "Your husband deserves to face a firing squad," one message read.
  • "You better not botch this recount," another said. "Your life depends on it."
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Following significant criticism and false allegations from President Donald Trump, Georgia's Republican secretary of state told a local TV station he and his wife have been receiving death threats.

The Peach State's top election official, Brad Raffensperger â€" who recently spoke with Insider to push back on Trump's baseless voter fraud claims in Georgia, which President-elect Joe Biden won â€" showed Atlanta's Fox affiliate text messages his wife has received lately.

"Your husband deserves to face a firing squad," one message read.

"You better not botch this recount," another read. "Your life depends on it."


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"The Raffenspergers should be put on trial for treason and face execution," a third read.

Raffensperger called out Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., for making the problem worse.

"I know that Doug Collins and his acolytes are spinning people up, and it's time that he just mans up, grows up, and speaks the truth instead of speaking lies," the secretary of state told the local Fox affiliate.

In his interview with Insider, Raffensperger described his struggle with misinformation as that of a "rumour whack-a-mole."

"Every time these rumours come up, it's like the rumour whack-a-mole, we go ahead and we address it, and we have a transparent process and we have press releases on a daily basis... but also there's been a lot of misinformation and honestly, disinformation or outright lying," he told Insider, referring to social media misnomers pushed by Trump and allies.

Raffensperger is overseeing a risk-limiting audit of Georgia's vote to check for any irregularities, which can range from human error to misfires by vote counting machines. The audit involves a hand recount of votes.

Despite fears of foreign interference and Trump's spurious claims of widespread voter fraud, the secretary of state told Insider this year's vote was "the most secure election ever."

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