NewzATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump’s midterm campaign blitz arrives in Georgia on Friday for a rally with top Republican candidates in a state that has long been the epicenter of the president’s false claims about election fraud. In Dalton, the population center of conservative northwest Georgia, Trump will appear with Senate candidate Mike Collins and gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson as part of the White House effort to boost Republican enthusiasm in an election that could reshape the final years of Trump’s second presidency. “President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle.
Yet unlike some of Trump’s recent trips to solidly Republican states — Alabama, Montana, Tennessee — Georgia is a critical battleground. That means Jackson, a billionaire businessman, and Collins, a two-term congressman, need more than Trump stalwarts to defeat their respective Democratic opponents, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. “I’m surprised Georgia Republicans want the president here,” Ossoff said.
“The president coming to town reminds Georgians that Donald Trump and Mike Collins” have pushed policies that have “driven the cost of groceries, fuel and healthcare to their all-time highs.” Collins spokesperson Meyer Siegfried said the congressman welcomes the president’s attention. But he also stressed that Collins is a “bipartisan workhorse who will work with anybody,” while adding that “Ossoff hates Trump more than he loves our state.” Bottoms also seemed thrilled with Trump’s visit. “When Donald Trump says he wants people to imagine that he is on the ballot, I am asking the people of Georgia to do just that,” she said, pointing to Jackson’s promise to be Trump’s “favorite governor.” The risks have been evident even in the heavily Republican corner of Georgia where the president will visit.
Voters there sent erstwhile Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress before she broke with the president and resigned. Trump won the district by about 37 points in 2024 and Greene won by 29. In the April special election to replace Greene, Republican Rep.
Republican candidates have run separately The Dalton event will be the first time this fall that Jackson and Collins have appeared at the same venue. Jon Ossoff.“I’m surprised Georgia Republicans want the president here,” Ossoff said. Clay Fuller won by 12 points.Republican candidates have run separatelyThe Dalton event will be the first time this fall that Jackson and Collins have appeared at the same venue.
That contrasts with Ossoff and Bottoms ho…
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