BRASELTON — In a town hall staged Tuesday at the Chateau Elan Winery & Resort, Republican allies of former President Donald Trump made their pitch that his economic policies are best suited to support the American working class.
“Working Americans are struggling just to put food on their table, clothes on their backs and gasoline in their cars,” U.S. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri said. “The best solution to solving that is a person by the name of Donald Trump.”
About 250 Trump supporters gathered in Barrow County, near the northeastern corner of Gwinnett County, to hear how Trump would improve Americans’ cost of living at a time when gas and grocery prices are a top concern for voters. Although Joe Biden carried Gwinnett in 2020 with 58.4% of the vote, Hall and Jackson counties, which border Chateau Elan in Braselton, supported Trump with more than 70% of their vote — as did Barrow County.
“We’re no longer the elite country club Republicans,” Smith said.
One of the potential solutions Trump has touted is increasing U.S. production of oil and gas, vowing to “drill, baby, drill” during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July, despite concern from environmental groups that doing so would reverse national climate goals.
Former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon concurred. “We have liquid gold beneath our feet in this country that’s not being utilized,” she said.
Over the past six years, however, the U.S. has produced more crude oil “than any nation at any time,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That includes a global record of more than 13.3 million barrels a day this past December.
Audience members, who had a chance to submit questions in advance, expressed concerns about their daily budgets. McMahon read aloud a question from a man who wanted to know whether Social Security would be protected for the elderly.
“You’ll hear the Democrats say that President Trump’s going to cut Social Security. Those are all lies,” Smith said.
The speakers also dismissed proposals from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to support working-class Americans, such as a plan to provide first-time homebuyers with up to $25,000 in down-payment support. (The idea has been criticized as incongruous with her other goals.)
Smith said the higher mortgage interest rates that have prevented many Americans from buying a home are because Democrats “spent like drunken sailors.”
Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also rejected the idea that his state and Georgia should change their right-to-work approach toward labor unions. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a report that employees represented by labor unions make between 10% and 15% more than nonunion employees. Biden and Harris appeared together on Labor Day to tout their support for unions.
“If people want to become a member of a labor union, that’s an opportunity they have. If you don’t want to be a member of a union, you should never be forced into being a member of a union,” he said.
Nikki Rickey, 57, who lives in Dawsonville, said although she received a raise when Biden took office in her role as a Ford recruiter, it has become harder to buy gas and groceries.
“If we keep going the way we’re going, it’s going to become extremely difficult for people in my class,” she said.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Chateau Elan Winery & Resort is located in Barrow County, not Gwinnett County.
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