I’m in Commerce for Trump’s rally for the seven Georgia Republicans he’s endorsed. Apparently, state Democrats are up here, too. Spotted outside the racetrack where thousands will soon gather are trucks emblazoned with: “Trump First Georgians Last.” #gapol
A Herschel Walker sighting in Commerce, where he’s surrounded by supporters seeking autographs and selfies. #gapol#gasen
Patrick Witt, who Trump is endorsing as part of an anti-Kemp vendetta, acknowledges few people in the crowd had ever heard of him let alone know he’s running for insurance commissioner. “I’m going to keep your insurance from going woke.” #gapol
John Gordon, another little-known candidate backed by Trump, calls his opponent “Chris Do-Nothing Carr” for not reversing the 2020 election results.
“I’m running because I witnessed the worst treatment of the best president of my entire lifetime.” #gapol
Former Democrat Vernon Jones, endorsed by Trump for a House seat to get him out of the gov race, opens: “I hear them about talking about a no fly zone in Ukraine. Let me tell you something. Donald Trump is the no fly zone.” #gapol
“My name is Herschel Walker and I’m winning a U.S. Senate seat.” The first issue the former football star invokes — “let’s get men out of women’s sports.”
“I’m running because it’s time for me to get out and fight.”
He’s punchier than I’ve heard him before. #gapol#gasen
More Walker: “If you’ve ever seen me play, I can play. If you’ve ever seen me fight, I can fight.” Walker doesn’t once mention Trump during his five-minute stump speech. #gapol#gasen
“It might be the year of the Dawg,” said LG candidate Burt Jones, another former Georgia player. He says he’s running to oust “weak-kneed” Republican politicians, and he vows to get rid of Dominion voting machines and ballot drop boxes if elected.
Next up: David Perdue, who earlier welcomed Trump’s visit by further embracing lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election. #gapolajc.com/politics/polit…
Perdue gets very tepid applause when he claims Kemp “sold us out” by landing the $5B Rivian electric vehicle plant that will bring 7,500+ jobs to the area. He gets a much louder reception when he talked of investigating the 2020 outcome: Chants of “lock him up” about Kemp. #gapol
Chrissy Maxwell of Newton, who wore a bejeweled denim Trump hat, said she'll vote for whomever Trump picks, no questions asked.
“I trust him to tell me what to do. Jesus and Trump. That’s who I listen to — and sometimes not in that order.” #gapol
Organizers just played the extended monologue of George C. Scott from the movie “Patton” to rev up the crowd at the Trump rally … #gapol
“We’re going to throw out a very, very sad situation that took place: Your RINO governor Brian Kemp,” says Trump, adding that Perdue got “screwed” in the 2020 election. “Brian Kemp — he sold you out.”#gapol
Trump says the crowd goes “as far as the eye can see” behind the TV risers. Ehhh … not so much. #gapol
This crowd is hardly applauding. Not the same sort of enthusiasm I’ve seen at other Trump rallies.
“If Kemp wins I think Herschel Walker will be very seriously and negatively impacted,” says Trump of the GOP nomination, a clip Democrats are sure to save. #gapol#gasen
Fair point. Since that tweet the crowd has erupted into major applause twice — when Trump indicated he would run again in ‘24 and when he said he was putting on a hat because it was cold. #gapol
Trump gets very, very light applause when he reminds the crowd he supports the stalled effort to allow Buckhead to split from Atlanta and create its own municipality. This is rural northeast Georgia, and few in the crowd seem to care. #gapol
Republican state Sen. Colton Moore was just arrested by state Troopers after he tried to defy a House order that banned him from the chambers. He was knocked to the floor after a scuffle, and was led away after telling authorities they were denying his rights. #gapol
Backstory from yesterday here: A far-right Republican state senator said he plans to ignore his banishment from the state House and attend Thursday’s State of the State address by Gov. Brian Kemp. #gapol
Fulton County is now starting to report its totals. Georgia’s most populous county, Biden won 73% of Fulton’s vote in 2020. Harris is on a similar track with half the county’s precincts reporting. #gapol
Keep an eye on Forsyth County, an exurban GOP stronghold. In 2020, Trump captured Forsyth with nearly two-thirds of the vote. Democrats are working to shave his margins there - winning by losing less - particularly targeting independent women there. #gapol
Clayton County might be the spot that has most spooked Democrats, because of lagging early voting turnout. So far, Clayton is about on pace where it was in 2020. #gapol
I’m here at the Kamala Harris rally in DeKalb County. I wandered the crowd of thousands asked voters the same question: What’s going to decide this election in Georgia? I got some intriguing answers. Here’s a thread. #gapol
Ashleigh Ewald is an activist working to drive up young voter turnout. “Republicans are underestimating the power of Gen Z voters. We couldn’t vote in 2016. Now we can – and we are energized.”
Jourdan Russell is an Oglethorpe University student who has been urging her friends, neighbors and classmates to vote – not just for president but for down-ticket races.
“Government is local on its most basic level, and these races matter.” #gapol
Here at the Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta, I wandered the crowd of thousands and asked voters the same question: How are you feeling about the Democrat’s chances in Georgia in November. The answers I got ran the gamut from confidence to anxiousness. Here’s a thread.
Jed Rich of Atlanta says he’s “hopeful and energized.”
“I view Trump as an existential threat to democracy. My father and both grandfathers are all U.S. military veterans and I think it’s a patriotic duty to vote for Kamala Harris. Trump is anti-democratic and anti-American.”
I spotted Mike Diamond’s Georgia hat in the crowd. He’s an East Cobb resident who is blunt about how he feels.
“I’m nervous. We cannot take four more years of Donald Trump. If you believe half the things he says, he will destroy our country. And there’s nowhere to run from it.”