For much of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, Gov. Brian Kemp and his Republican allies have pleaded with him to focus on the future rather than promote election fraud lies about his 2020 defeat.
At his Saturday rally in Atlanta, Trump made clear what he thought of their advice. While his slashing attacks at Kemp and other Republicans drew most of the attention, he also repeatedly lied that he won the 2020 vote.
He also complained that had Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger heeded his demands to illegally reverse his defeat in Georgia, he would have avoided Fulton County racketeering charges.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The fresh round of lies emboldened far-right conspiracists who have long tried to undermine faith in Georgia’s election system.
Amy Kremer, the newly elected Republican National Committee member from Georgia, amplified a social media post from pro-Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell that said Kemp and other GOP officials deserved the backlash.
“This will never stop until there is accountability,” Kremer wrote on X. “Lock them up!”
Republican state Sen. Colton Moore of Trenton, who was exiled from the GOP caucus a year ago, echoed Trump’s accusation that Kemp was trying to hinder him in November by saying the governor should “campaign for commie Kamala.”
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
And ultraconservative activist Kandiss Taylor promised to mobilize election deniers and organize “an offensive” to “secure” Georgia’s vote.
Meanwhile, dozens of Georgia Republicans, and even a few Democrats, promoted Kemp on social media or found other ways to express their support for the two-term governor after Trump’s tirade.
Said one veteran political wag: “I don’t remember a time where this many people — on both sides of the aisle, inside and outside of the state — have publicly had the governor’s back.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
TWO LT. GOVS. Throughout his roughly 90-minute remarks, former President Donald Trump repeatedly called out Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a close ally sitting near the stage. A few times, Trump glowingly invoked Jones even as he bashed Gov. Brian Kemp.
As Jones prepares to run for Kemp’s seat in 2026, he’s relentlessly branding himself a Trump loyalist. But he also doesn’t want to get on Kemp’s bad side. That was clear in a statement Jones sent us after the rally.
Said Jones:
“I am friends with both the president and the governor and as much as I would like for my friends to be friends sometimes that is not the case … and that's ok. The bottom line — this country can't take 4 more years of the mess Joe Biden and Kamala Harris created. We have one shot to fix it this November and I am going to do everything I can to make sure Donald Trump is in the White House, not Kamala Harris."
Meanwhile, Jones’ predecessor, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, continued his shift toward Harris’ orbit. Not long after the rally, the vice president’s campaign sent out a news release with a cutting quote from the Georgia Republican.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
“Millions of Americans are fed up with his grievance-filled campaign focused only on himself,” Duncan said. “Tonight we heard a particularly unhinged, angry version of the same Donald Trump that Georgia rejected in 2020.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
EMPTY SEATS? Former President Donald Trump filled the room for his rally at the Georgia State University Convocation Center on Saturday. Yet Trump still took notice of the few empty seats in the arena and used the vacancies to accuse the host school of a conspiracy.
Trump told attendees Georgia State denied entry to several hundred would-be rallygoers and that “we could have fit another 600 people.” Rally organizers told reporters that Georgia State administrators forced 5,000-plus guests waiting outside the arena to a protest zone located across the street.
“If they’re going to stand in the way of admitting people to our rally, just imagine what they’re going to do on election day,” Trump said.
Our AJC colleagues Ariel Hart and Merrill Hart talked to law enforcement and others involved in venue security in a story that published Sunday.
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Credit: Seeger Gray/AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray/AJC
‘A KILLING FIELD.’ Among former President Donald Trump’s many bombastic references during his Atlanta rally on Saturday was his describing the city as “a killing field” rife with crime.
The AJC’s Matt Kempner spent Sunday talking to several Atlanta-area residents about how they view the city. Most refuted Trump’s assertion and said they feel safe in the city.
The number of homicides reported in the city of Atlanta last year was down 21% compared to the year before and is lower than any time since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to police records. But the number of recorded homicides still remains sharply higher than it was in the three years before the pandemic began.
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WEBSITE WOES. The newly created state website that allows voters to cancel their registrations initially disclosed personal information, leading to fears that it could be exploited if wrongdoers attempt to remove legitimate voters.
The secretary of state’s office plugged the data leak and said the site includes safeguards to prevent wrongful voter cancellations while keeping voter lists up to date, the AJC’s Mark Niesse wrote.
But separate reporting from Pro Publica indicated that bad actors have already used the site to target U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger by attempting to cancel their voter registrations and that of other notable Republicans.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
CLIMATE FUNDS SNUB. Georgia failed in its bid to win federal funds earmarked to cut pollution and emissions of planet-warm gases. The Peach State Voluntary Emission Reduction Plan was not among the 25 projects selected to receive money from the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a $4.3 billion program.
Our AJC colleague Drew Kann has the details and writes that the EPA rewarded projects with a strict focus on reducing emissions rather than those that championed infrastructure that adapts to global warming. Georgia’s bid was heavy on climate adaptation initiatives, such as purchasing electric school buses, installing EV chargers and expanding building weatherization and energy efficiency programs.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on “Politically Georgia,” the team recaps former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance’s rally in Atlanta along with other events during a busy week in politics.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 or follow “Politically Georgia” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Friday’s show featured a preview of the rally. Plus, AJC education columnist Maureen Downey talked about the controversy surrounding State School Superintendent Richard Woods’ assertion that an Advanced Placement African American Studies course taught in some Georgia schools violates state law.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
CARTER’S VOTE. Former President Jimmy Carter celebrates his 100th birthday on Oct. 1, but that’s not the date the ailing president has his eye on.
Carter recently told his son he wants to live long enough to cast a vote for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Early voting begins Oct. 15 for the Nov. 5 election.
Insider Greg Bluestein has more on the president’s condition in a report published Saturday. Carter has been in hospice care since February 2023.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden speaks by phone with King Abdullah II of Jordan. Later, Biden meets with his national security team to discuss rising tensions in the Middle East.
- The House and Senate are in recess until Sept. 9.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
SERVICE ACADEMY DAY. U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson, hosts an event Saturday in Bogart to help students learn about the process for applying to the nation’s five military service academies.
The event is from 10 a.m. to noon at Prince Avenue Christian School and features representatives from the United States Air Force, Coast Guard, Military, Merchant Marine and Naval academies.
Students and families interested in attending should send the student’s name, phone number, school, and grade, along with the names of all guests, to GA10Noms@mail.house.gov.
Students who plan to ask Collins to nominate them to a service academy can apply on his website.
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SEMESTERS VS. QUARTERS. A state House study committee created to explore whether state colleges, universities and technical schools should remain on a semester academic schedule will soon begin work, Capitol Beat News Service’s Dave Williams reports.
The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and the other schools in the University System of Georgia adopted a semester system in 1999. The approach breaks the academic year into two 15-week sessions with a summer vacation. Several schools also offer courses in the summer, known as “mini-mesters.”
Prior to 1999, state schools were on a quarters schedule, offering four 10-week sessions. The study committee is expected to consider switching back to quarters.
The resolution passed by the Georgia House in March to create the study committee questioned whether semesters are the better option.
“The conversion from the quarter system to the semester system has resulted in longer terms with more classes and fewer graduation cycles,” the resolution read.
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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.
