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
A glimpse of the crowd at Trump’s rally at an old racetrack in northeast Georgia, where the former president hopes to rally supporters behind the seven state candidates he’s endorsed. #gapol
Updated crowd shot:
I've covered more than two dozen Trump rallies around the nation. This is the smallest crowd I've seen at a rally of his in Georgia since he won the 2016 election -- significantly smaller than the crowd in Perry in September. #gapolajc.com/politics/a-pro…
Georgia gov candidate David Perdue on @Xtra1063 on the Ukraine invasion: “Russia has got to be stopped. This is nothing but a bully — Putin — taking advantage of a weak president. This wouldn’t have happened with Donald Trump as president.” #gapol
Senate Republican candidate @GaryBlackForGA: “President Biden has projected a vacuum of leadership and Putin is filling it with cruelty and dreams of a new USSR. Biden’s weakness has significant real-world implications as Ukrainians now, sadly, feel intimately." #gapol#gasen
GOP Senate candidate @LathamSaddler, an ex-WH official, on Trump’s praise for Putin amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I can promise you during my time there our enemies feared us and Putin knew better than to invade any sovereign countries and therefore didn’t.” #gapol#gasen
@GovKemp Record tax collections allowed Kemp on Thursday to reel off a series of voter-pleasing proposals, including pay raises, tax refunds and increased spending in key areas such as education, law enforcement and health care. #gapolajc.com/politics/awash…
Lt. Gov. @GeoffDuncanGA plans to assign the Buckhead cityhood bill sponsored by Republican Brandon Beach to the Democratic-led Urban Affairs Committee, effectively bottling it up for now. #gapol
LG says no to Atlanta 2.0? Duncan has been a big skeptic of the Buckhead secession initiative. #gapol
Herschel Walker’s campaign has falsely claimed he graduated from college, repeating something that’s proliferated in online bios, at a political rally, and even when the Senate GOP candidate was introduced for a congressional hearing. #gapol#gasenajc.com/politics/polit…
Here’s a sampling of where the false claim has showed up, starting with the now-deleted reference on Walker’s campaign website. #gapol#gasen
In a statement to the @ajc, Walker acknowledged that he didn’t graduate from UGA despite claims otherwise.
“After playing with the New Jersey Generals, I returned to Athens to complete my degree, but life and football got in the way.” #gapol#gasenajc.com/politics/polit…