Ossoff, Warnock hit out at Trump, say he is 'afraid to lose the midterms'; White House calls Georgia Democrat a 'total phony'

Georgia Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock hit out at President Donald Trump in social media posts on Monday night, saying he is "afraid to lose the midterms" and "at war with our democracy."

The White House, in turn, called Ossoff a "total phony" in a statement to 11Alive News on Tuesday.

The remarks from Georgia's senators came in response to a since-amended tweet by conservative-leaning news outlet The Washington Reporter saying that the president would declare the two Democrats' original election victories "illegitimate because of fraud."

No other news outlets corroborated that reporting, and several hours after their initial post, The Washington Reporter walked back its story, saying in an update that "the White House tells us President Trump's speech will not focus on Georgia's 2020 elections."

Despite the apparent inaccuracy, the initial post -- viewed more than 12 million times as of Tuesday afternoon -- was enough to reignite focus on Georgia's 2020 election, which is often smoldering in parts of the online political ecosystem.

"Donald Trump's spiral continues," Ossoff tweeted. "The failed president, pocketing billions as he drives up prices, is afraid to lose the midterms. So he will reheat debunked election conspiracy theories and tell bizarre new lies to deny his 2020 defeat and attack voting rights."

White House spokesperson Allison Schuster responded, calling Ossoff "a disgrace" and "a total phony who pretends to be a moderate while pushing extreme positions."

Warnock, meanwhile, wrote that President Trump is "at war with our democracy, and Georgia is ground zero."

"But this is John Lewis' Georgia. We are not intimidated. We are not moved," Warnock wrote. "Mr. President, instead of attacking our democracy, why don't you do something about the high cost of gas, housing, and health care?"

In 2020, Republican Governor Brian Kemp certified the state's general election results following multiple recounts that confirmed the outcome. "We have now counted legally cast ballots three times, and the results remain unchanged," Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said at a 2020 news conference at the state Capitol before the results were certified.