David Perdue: Georgia senator pulls out of final debate after 'brutal' takedown by Democrat goes viral

Georgia’s senator David Perdue has reportedly pulled out of his final election debate with Democrat challenger Jon Ossoff, after a vicious exchange between the two on Wednesday went viral.

In a statement issued to reporters, Mr Perdue’s office said that the senator is not going to participate in the head-to-head debate and will instead attend an event with President Donald Trump.

“As lovely as another debate listening to Jon Ossoff lie to the people of Georgia sounds, Sen Perdue will not be participating in the WSB-TV debate but will instead join the 45th president, Donald J Trump, for a huge Get-Out-The-Vote rally in Northwest Georgia,” Mr Perdue’s spokesman John Burke said in a statement.

Mr Ossoff first tweeted that the Perdue camp had cancelled their final debate, saying it came after the clash in Wednesday where the Republican had “no answers” to his allegations of “blatant corruption, widespread disease, and economic devastation”.

In the heated exchange in Savannah that went viral, Mr Perdue attacked Mr Ossoff for raising large sums of cash from out-of-state donors who want a “radical socialist agenda.”

Mr Ossoff responded by labelling Mr Perdue a “crook” for selling stocks before the economic downturn. He said: “Perhaps Senator Perdue would have been able to respond properly to the Covid-19 pandemic if you hadn’t been fending off multiple federal investigations for insider trading.”

He added: “It’s not just that you’re a crook, senator. It’s that you’re attacking the health of the people that you represent.”

The senator dismissed Mr Ossoff’s attacks as “nonsense”, and said that he was open to a full review of his stock trades.

The video clip of the exchange posted by Mr Ossoff has been viewed over 11 million times. People on social media called the exchange “brutal” and Mr Perdue’s silence “cowardly”.

With less than four days remaining to election day, the Georgia candidates are seen as being neck and neck in the crucial fight for control of the Senate.