VALDOSTA — President Donald Trump asked a crowd of thousands on Saturday to take to the polls to support Republican U.S. Sen. candidates David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

But all while he decried what he called Georgia’s “rigged” election system.

Georgia Republicans have been holding their breath in the days leading up to Trump’s visit to Valdosta to headline a rally for incumbents Perdue and Loeffler after high-profile members of his legal team have encouraged his die-hard supporters not to vote in the U.S. Senate runoffs.

Trump’s performance at the rally, partisans have said, would either convince his voters to turnout in the high-stakes Jan. 5 runoffs or keep them further from the polls by continuing to promote mistrust in the democratic process. His two-hour speech did a little bit of both.

“You know we won Georgia, just so you understand,” Trump began his remarks. Despite his claims, the Peach State’s some 5 million ballots cast in the presidential election have been tallied three times — the first count, the statewide audit and then the recount requested by the Trump campaign. All three times the outcome has remained the same — a Democrat came out on top for the first time since 1992 — President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia.

The outgoing president rattled off debunked claims of voter fraud in Georgia and other states across the U.S. The crowd interrupting him on multiple occasions to chant “stop the steal.”

But the distrust in the election has caused concern for the Republican senatorial candidates who have dubbed themselves the “firewall” to the U.S. Senate.

If their Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, come out on top, the U.S. Senate would be in a party-line split, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the deciding vote and Democrats effective control of the chamber.

“The voters of Georgia will determine which party runs every committee, writes every piece of legislation, controls every single taxpayer dollar,” Trump said. “Very simply: you will decide whether your children will grow up in a socialist country or whether they grow up in a free country.”

Trump spent a majority of his speech repeating baseless claims of voter fraud which have riled his supporters into a frenzy across the country. The Georgia State Capitol has become the site for regular protests put on by Trump’s supporters and the state’s top election officials to low-level elections workers have been subject to death threats.

But Trump is adamant and slammed both Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp multiple times throughout his speech.

“And I have to say, if I lost, I’d be a very gracious loser,” Trump said. “If I lost, I would say, I lost, and I’d go to Florida and take it easy and I’d go around and I’d say I did a good job. But you can’t ever accept when they steal and rig and rob.”

Kemp, once a close ally of Trump, was the main target of his insults Saturday night. Trump has requested Kemp intervene in the election results — something even the governor has no power to do — and said the governor “needs to be a lot tougher.” He even suggested former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins run for governor in the next election.

Kemp did not attend the rally, after the death of a close family friend and Loeffler campaign staffer.

“This election was rigged, and we can’t let it happen to two of the most respected people in Washington,” Trump said. “Your governor could stop it easily if he knew what the hell he was doing.”

Trump reiterated GOP fears that his refusal to accept the election results will cause his supporters to boycott the runoffs. Boycotting was his first instinct, too, he said, but there’s too much at stake for Republicans.

“Georgia patriots must get out and vote for these two great people,” he said of Perdue and Loeffler.