PERRY – For a year-old ex-president who survived two historic impeachments and failed his re-election bid in the White House, Donald Trump is still having a blast … at least in Georgia.
“To have a country again, all you have to do is vote for America First Republicans,” Trump told a conservative audience at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry. “The world eats our lunch and laughs at us, but when I was president the world respected us.”
Trump returned to Georgia for the first time since the US Senate runoff election last January on September 25, performing with several GOP candidates, including UGA soccer legend Herschel Walker, who gave his first major speech as a US Senate candidate.
Trump reiterated the core messages of his political career – he mocked the current immigration crisis on the southern border, criticized the leadership of top Democratic President Joe Biden and House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, support for laws and border enforcement, and a strong economy.
“Joe Biden has opened the border wide and our country is invaded by hundreds of thousands of people every month,” said Trump. “This is an invasion,” he said, followed by chants, “Build this wall! Build this wall! “
“Radical Democrats in Congress continue to push for mass immigration,” said Trump. “We’re going through the worst border crisis in a century.”
Trump called the US Senator Raphael Warnock, the man Walker wants to defeat next year, a democratic “left-wing madman” to be defeated.
“What qualifies me to run for this office?” Said Walker. “What qualifies a pastor to run for office? What qualifies a farmer to run for office? I am American and that qualifies me to run for this office. “
Walker is running for the GOP nomination to face Warnock next fall.
“The people we elect to office shouldn’t be asked, do you love America? If you don’t love America, you shouldn’t run for office. We have to be responsible for ourselves. “
Walker recounted his childhood in Wrightsville and a conversation with his mother when her production job was lost due to the closure of her plant.
“Let’s worry about the United States,” said Walker. “Let’s get people back to work. We can be compassionate, but we have to take care of our people at home first. “
Trump also reiterated claims that last fall’s elections were fraught with fraud and irregularities, saying his campaign “never made any concessions.
“We did much better in 2020 than in 2016,” said Trump. “Our rallies were bigger and we gave more votes.”
On Friday, September 24, hours before Trump’s rally, State Democrats attempted to argue that Trump should no longer be a force in GOP – or American – politics.
“For Republicans, Trump is above everything, including working Georgians,” said MP Miriam Paris, D-Macon. “We want to make sure that this return of Trumpism to Georgia in 2022 does not pose a threat to us. He got 75 million votes in America and did nothing but cause chaos and attack our elections. “
“It’s the Republicans who keep Trump in the headlines,” said State MP Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna. “There are GOP candidates who are doing everything they can to get on this stage with Trump and get his blessing.”
Republican governor hopefuls Vernon Jones, who hopes to oust Governor Brian Kemp next year, said: “Georgia is a red state. We will fight for Donald Trump. The sky is blue today, but the ground is red. In 2022 we will show that we are a red state, and in 2024 we will show that Georgia is red.
“Donald Trump is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the Republican Party.”
US MP Jody Hice, R-Greensboro, who is running to resign current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, said every decision so far in the Biden administration has been against the interests of the American people.
Kemp and Raffensperger have drawn Trump’s anger for refusing to overturn Georgia’s November 2020 election results.
“It’s time to give Brad the boot and send him home,” Hice said. “He destroyed the electoral integrity in this state.”
Also appeared were Senator Burt Jones, R-Jackson, who is running for lieutenant governor. Incumbent Geoff Duncan is not seeking re-election.
“Eight months of Joe Biden, America is in full retreat,” said Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer. “The only progressive thing in Joe Biden’s administration is his dementia.”
Dr. Alveda King condemned Pelosi and the House Democrats for their stance on abortion, saying Trump was the “pro-life president in history”.
US MP Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, cheered two and a half hours before Trump’s performance and shook hands while holding an “Impeach Biden” sign.
Chants from “Impeach Biden” also greeted Greene on stage. “Let’s talk about Democrats. They are communists, ”said Greene. “We have to close our borders. It’s time to say, Americans only. “
Trump has hinted that he could go for the Republican White House nomination in 2024 after Joe Biden defeated the Republican incumbent in last November’s presidential election. Biden has represented Georgia in an election where Trump continues to accuse election fraud.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a Georgia Press Educational Foundation project.
