Georgia secretary of state calls out 'dishonest actors' for 'exploiting the emotions of many Trump supporters' and 'misleading the president as well'

• Georgia's secretary of state criticized "dishonest actors" for spreading disinformation about the 2020 election in a news conference on Monday.
• "Frankly, they are misleading the president as well, apparently," Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said.
• President Donald Trump still has not conceded the election and has attacked Georgia's state leaders for neglecting to take up his baseless claims of voter fraud.

Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called out "dishonest actors" for spreading disinformation about the 2020 election in a news conference on Monday.

"There are those who are exploiting the emotions of many Trump supporters with fantastic claims, half truths, misinformation," Raffensperger said. "Frankly, they are misleading the president as well, apparently."

Insider and Decision Desk HQ announced President-elect Joe Biden as the projected winner of Georgia more than three weeks ago. The Trump campaign has since filed and lost two lawsuits in an attempt to challenge the election results based on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud Georgia. The state officially certified President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential race on Nov. 20, after a hand recount of the more than 5 million paper ballots cast.

"The truth matters, especially around election administration," Raffensperger said, adding that the state's recount total will be posted online for the public to see "as quickly as possible."

His update comes after he implied in an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution over the weekend that it would be best for President Donald Trump to leave office "quietly" after losing the election.

Trump has not acknowledged his election defeat and has attacked Georgia's state leaders for neglecting to take up his baseless claims. In two tweets on Monday morning, Trump criticized both Raffensperger and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

"Why won't Governor @BrianKempGA, the hapless Governor of Georgia, use his emergency powers, which can be easily done, to overrule his obstinate Secretary of State, and do a match of signatures on envelopes. It will be a 'goldmine' of fraud, and we will easily WIN the state," Trump said.

"Also, quickly check the number of envelopes versus the number of ballots. You may just find that there are many more ballots than there are envelopes. So simple, and so easy to do. Georgia Republicans are angry, all Republicans are angry. Get it done!" he continued.

During the news conference on Monday, Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's voting system implementation manager, pushed back on such assertions.

"It's like playing a game of whack-a-mole," Sterling said. "Everytime we knock down one, there's a new, crazier one. We're doing our best to be transparent and answer all these charges because there are people out there, who people respect, and are believing some of these things. It is difficult and it's frustrating."

Regarding the upcoming Senate runoff elections in January, Raffensberger aimed to reassure voters to trust the election process.

"Your right to vote is sacred. Don't let someone con you out of it," Raffensperger said. "We'll continue to follow the law, and we'll continue to follow the process."