A month ago, President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance in Atlanta set the stage for the tumult that followed: Democratic demands for his withdrawal, his sudden capitulation and then the closing of the ranks around Vice President Kamala Harris.
So it was only fitting that Harris use her first rally in Atlanta since becoming the Democratic presumptive nominee to issue a debate challenge to former President Donald Trump.
Poking fun at the Republican’s recent refusal to commit to the Sept. 10 matchup, the vice president drew some of the loudest cheers of her roughly 21-minute speech when she pressed Trump to think twice about the showdown.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage,” she said. “Because as the saying goes, ‘If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.’”
Trump told Fox News on Monday he will “probably” debate Harris. But he pointedly refused to commit to one.
“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this: Everybody knows who I am, and now people know who she is,” he said, later adding that “I can also make a case for not doing it.”
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
SAVANNAH SWING. Politico reports that Vice President Kamala Harris plans to announce her running mate by Tuesday, the day she launches a battleground-state nationwide swing in Philadelphia.
We’ve confirmed the duo plan to rally in Savannah as part of the seven-city, four-day trip. The rest of the itinerary includes stops in Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Raleigh and western Wisconsin.
***
TRUMP TIME. Expect to see Georgia’s MAGA royalty at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Atlanta on Saturday, his first in the state with his newly christened running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.
Several of Trump’s most ardent supporters are expected to attend the joint event and are eager to hear the Republican nominees address key campaign issues.
Former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville brought up the slaying of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was killed while jogging near the University of Georgia campus. An undocumented immigrant from Venezuela has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
“Donald Trump is not afraid to address the murder of Laken Riley and the awful immigration policies that created this tragedy,” he said. “Kamala Harris won’t even say her name.”
***
MEOW. Republican Vice Presidential nominee — U.S. Sen. JD Vance — has given former President Donald Trump’s campaign loads of headaches since a comment from 2021 about women without children recently resurfaced.
Vance told Tucker Carlson then that the country and the Democratic Party were being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable in their own lives and the choices they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”
Vance then listed Vice President Kamala Harris, who has two stepchildren, among his examples of supposedly unhappy women.
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The comment has sparked outrage among women with and without cats, and with and without children, including Georgia Democratic state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver.
“I don’t have cats, don’t like cats, but I do have a basset hound named Henry,” Oliver said. “Does taking care of parents for 10 years influence JD Vance’s definition of family values? My mother lived with me for six years until she died at 91.”
She added, “Vance irritates me more every day. Why would you vote for anyone who insults your family?”
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
DUNCAN’S ASSESSMENT. Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan didn’t just become one of the rare Republicans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. He attended her Tuesday rally in Atlanta to reinforce his support.
The ex-Minor League pitcher couldn’t resist a baseball analogy to describe attending his first large-scale Democratic event.
“It probably felt a lot like the first day after being traded from the Yankees to the Red Sox,” he said of the age-old rivalry.
He added:
“That room had the energy of a national championship and speaks to the lightning in a bottle Kamala Harris has caught over the last 10 days. If Donald Trump thinks he is going to steamroll his way back to the White House, he has another thing coming. This race is still about the 10% in the middle and my money is on Harris getting their attention better than Donald Trump."
***
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
ABRAMS TALKER. Stacey Abrams, the two-time Georgia gubernatorial runner-up, is trying her hand at a new job — podcasting.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Abrams recently inked a deal with Crooked Media to host the new podcast “Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams.” It will air on the Crooked Media network, the progressive audio powerhouse helmed by a trio of former Obama administration staffers.
The format will include explainers from Abrams of hot topics of the day, along with questions from listeners, which she said goes back to her days in the Georgia Legislature when she held town hall meetings where constituents could ask her anything.
The podcast launches Aug. 15, days before the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago.
***
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
HARRIS IS OFFICIAL. The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris was the only candidate to qualify to become the party’s presidential nominee.
Harris has already secured the support of 99% of all delegates. The virtual roll call to make her nomination official will begin Thursday and end on Monday. That would ensure that Harris is eligible to be listed on the ballot in all 50 states.
“As we prepare to open the voting on our virtual roll call, we move to this final stage of our nomination process with unprecedented momentum and unity across our party,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and convention chair Minyon Moore said in a joint statement. “We stand united in our mission to elect a Democratic nominee who has the experience, the wisdom, and the bold determination to lead our country, and we stand united in our mission to defeat Donald Trump once again.”
.***
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
GEORGIA INFLUENCE. Columbus native Kamau Marshall is among the newest senior advisers to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Marshall is a Carver High School graduate and his father still lives in Columbus.
Marshall is a veteran campaign official, having served as President Joe Biden’s director of senior communications during his 2020 presidential run. Marshall also worked in the Biden administration, first as a deputy assistant U.S. trade representative and later as a senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Education.
***
Credit: Hyosub.Shin / ajc.com
Credit: Hyosub.Shin / ajc.com
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” we recap Vice President Kamala Harris’ big rally last night and all the surprise guests with Katy Gates, deputy communications director at Voters of Tomorrow.
Then, former state Rep. Meagan Hanson provides a millennial conservative’s perspective. A Republican from Brookhaven, Hanson served one term in the Georgia House from 2018 to 2020. She ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 2022, losing to Rep. Rich McCormick of Suwanee in the GOP primary.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
In case you missed it on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams of Atlanta, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, previewed the night’s big campaign rally with Vice President Kamala Harris.
And Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis weighed in on Biden’s plans to overhaul the U.S. Supreme Court.
***
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
RANKING MEMBER MCBATH. U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, will serve as the top-ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime. McBath fills a void left by the death of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who died of pancreatic cancer.
“Lucy McBath has been a dedicated member of the Judiciary Committee from her first day in office, quickly becoming one of the strongest voices in the House for gun violence prevention,” said U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
McBath said her new leadership role will help her fill goals to curb gun violence while honoring Jackson Lee’s memory. If Democrats win control of the House in the November election, McBath would be in line to chair the subcommittee.
“Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s voice can never be replaced,” McBath said. “It is my honor to take up her vision and serve as ranking member of this subcommittee. We will all strive to continue the fierce advocacy she demonstrated each day.”
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden receives a series of policy briefings and lunches with Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.’s convention.
- The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights, chaired by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., convenes a hearing to investigate the abuse of pregnant women in prison.
- The House is in recess until Sept. 9.
***
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
PLEA DEAL. A Macon man pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to making murderous threats against U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, and her staff members.
Our AJC colleague Rosie Manins reports that Sean Patrick Cirillo, 34, faces up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release as well as a $250,000 fine. He is due to be sentenced on Nov. 7.
Cirillo was arrested in November after federal prosecutors alleged he called Greene’s congressional office in Washington and said, “I got a bead on her. Like a sniper rifle. A sniper rifle. And I’m gonna kill her next week. I’m gonna murder her. I’ll kill you too if you want. You’re gonna die. Your family is gonna die.”
***
AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
