Price made the remarks in a Facebook Live video on November 7 that was subsequently deleted. According to a report by Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr, Price made the comments just half an hour after the presidential election was called for former Vice President Joe Biden.
It also appears that Price himself registered to vote in Georgia on November 8 despite being resident in Florida. Under Georgia law, moving there temporarily in order to vote is a crime. He is now under investigation by authorities in the state.
“If we lose the Senate on Jan. 5 in Georgia, we will become Venezuela,” Price told Bay County Republicans in a speech on November 7.
“[A]nd I will invite each and everyone of you to be my roommate in Georgia,” he said.
“I’m changing my voter registration right now, and I’m inviting two million people to be my roommate.”
Price told his audience that keeping control of the Senate was crucial and that they should and could register to vote in Georgia in time for the runoff elections, which will take place on January 5. He also noted that lawsuits by President Donald Trump’s campaign seeking to challenge the election results were unlikely to succeed.
“I’d love to tell you that there are legal avenues for success in the courts, but as a realist and as a lawyer myself, I know that that’s just not going to happen,” Price said.
“We absolutely have to hold the Senate and we have to start fighting back, and we have to do whatever it takes,” he said. “And if that means changing your address for the next two months, so be it. I’m doing that. I’m moving to Georgia and I’m gonna fight and I want you all to fight with me.”
Price said he was changing his address to his brother’s in Hiram, a city in Paulding County, Georgia. He also said his brother’s name and addressed and spelled it out for those listening. One woman asked if they could also register at that address.
“Sure,” Price said. He then suggested that anyone doing so should be able to show their planning to move by having mail sent there, according to Channel 2.
When Price was approached by Carr, Channel 2’s investigative reporter, he denied he had changed his voter registration and said his advice had been intended as “humorous.”
However, Price had changed his address to his brother’s home and sworn an affidavit that he was a Georgia resident the day after he made the remarks.
The move and the video have now prompted an investigation into Price. Deidre Holden, election supervisor in Paulding County, said they “clearly” know Price is not resident there.
“What kind of message is this sending out to our children and our grandchildren and our neighbors that if you don’t win an election, that you can just go out and steal one?” asked Holden, a Republican. “And that’s absolutely unacceptable here in the State of Georgia.”
