Maybe the invite got lost in the mail?
But one Georgia football player isn’t happy that President Joe Biden hasn’t invited the two-time champs to the White House. And he went viral Tuesday after Fox News picked up on his complaint.
“No invite to the White House is crazy @POTUS,” star defensive lineman Warren Brinson posted on Twitter.
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Credit: Jason Getz/AJC
Brinson’s tweet follows a January letter from Georgia’s congressional requesting that the White House to honor the NCAA winners with a celebration “at your earliest convenience.”
“It is our hope that this repeat championship team can join the many teams prior that have been honored by the President,” wrote the bipartisan group.
Now some strategists say it’s time to turn up the pressure. Republican operative Brian Robinson, a rabid Georgia fan, said it would be smart politics for Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to again publicly call for a White House reception for the Bulldogs after earlier signing onto the delegation letter.
“And soon,” he added. “Once spring practice starts, Coach Kirby Smart won’t allow more celebrations.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to an email about whether the Biden Administration has had any contact with the school about a possible team visit.
While Biden has hosted championship winning professional teams to the White House, including the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Braves, college teams haven’t been so lucky since COVID-19 restrictions lifted at the White House last year.
Biden tweeted last April shortly after the end of the NCAA basketball tournament that he looked forward to hosting the two winning teams at the White House.
But it appears that neither the Kansas Jayhawks men’s team, nor the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s squad, have made it to Washington yet, either.
Celebrations don’t always happen within a month of victory, though. The Braves’ White House party came nearly a year after their World Series win in 2021.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
LISTEN UP. When word came that former President Jimmy Carter had entered hospice care, we sent a team of reporters to Plains to hear from residents about the lives that the former president and First Lady Rosalynn Carter have led there.
We’ve got those conversations in a special edition of the Politically Georgia podcast from Plains, in your feeds today.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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DNC DETAILS. The AJC’s Riley Bunch has the scoop on the numbers behind Atlanta’s bid to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
With Atlanta now competing with Chicago and New York as finalists, the city’s delegation is calling itself a one-stop shop for nearby affordable hotels, spacious meetings options and a city that’s been-there-done-that when it comes to hosting major events, including the 1996 Olympics.
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Riley reports the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau has already secured about 15,000 rooms across nearly 70 hotels in downtown, Midtown and Buckhead for the week-long event — with the furthest lodging options about 8 miles away.
And the main convention would take place at State Farm Arena, which would get a massive facelift with crews starting setup work as soon as the NBA finishes out its schedule.
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Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 22:
- 8 a.m.: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes;
- Committees meet throughout the day.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
GRAND WITNESS. Of the 75 or so witnesses to testify behind closed doors to the Fulton County special grand jury investigating the 2020 election, there was one that stood out for forewoman Emily Kohrs as a class act.
It was the late House Speaker David Ralston, whom she described to our AJC colleagues Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin as both “marvelous” and “such a funny man.”
Kohrs said she swore Ralston in as she held a Ninja Turtle Popsicle she had just received at an ice cream party thrown by prosecutors. His response?
“He told me that it was the first time in 60 years he had said ‘I do’ to a woman other than his wife.”
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
HOUSING PLANS. A Republican push to loosen local zoning restrictions to clear the way for more affordable housing is advancing this week.
State Rep. Dale Washburn, R-Macon, introduced House Bill 514 and House Bill 517 on Tuesday, and a pro-business organization has already rallied behind them.
The newly formed “Georgia Coalition for Housing Opportunity” includes the Georgia Chamber, the Home Builders Association of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Realtors, and Habitat for Humanity of Georgia.
Chris Clark, the Chamber’s executive director, said the legislation aims to address “a statewide shortage of workforce housing, varying housing regulations at every street corner, and skyrocketing prices that are stifling the middle class.”
Supporters hope it will dovetail with Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to make it easier to build new housing complexes.
While builders would certainly welcome fewer local regulations, expect strong objections from the people who currently have the power over zoning decisions and standards in their communities, namely city and county officials.
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Credit: Milton Herald
Credit: Milton Herald
CONTROL THE VOTE. Speaking of local control, a handful of cities in Atlanta’s northern suburbs are attempting to take over administration of local elections from Fulton County, the AJC’s Mark Niesse and Adrianne Murchison report.
The effort started with an idea from a Milton committee that included city officials and two residents: Mark Amick, one of 16 Republicans who tried to award Georgia’s Electoral College votes to Donald Trump in 2020, and Lisa Cauley, the president of Fulton County Republican Women.
Last year Amick was named as a target of the Fulton County Special Grand Jury Investigation into possible election interference. He was also among those subpoenaed by the special grand jury in the process.
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Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden returns from Poland later today.
- The U.S. House and Senate are off all week.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
OSSOFF ON FOSTER CARE. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff spoke to our AJC colleague Katherine Landergan Tuesday to further explain his decision to launch an inquiry into Georgia’s foster care system, saying there’s “nothing more fundamental than children’s safety.”
“There is reason to be concerned that these are long standing risks to children in Georgia and that potential malpractice, mismanagement or misconduct have left children at risk of abuse and neglect,” he told Landergan. “That warrants close scrutiny.”
This is the first inquiry that Ossoff, a Democrat, is launching as the new chairman of the Senate Human Rights Subcommittee, along with Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee.
The inquiry comes after the state’s ombudsman for child welfare found evidence of breakdowns within the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, as detailed in the AJC.
Some inquiries lead to hearings, but Ossoff declined to speculate where this one could go, including whether it will expand to include foster care systems in other states.
“The next investigative steps will be informed by the information that we receive in response to this initial inquiry,” he said. “And I don’t want, at this time, to get ahead where we are now.”
The state has until March 10 to respond to a letter that Ossoff and Blackburn sent on Friday. State officials said Friday that they “look forward to sharing our efforts to protect Georgia’s children.”
The foster care crisis isn’t limited to Georgia. A recent report found that foster kids in Blackburn’s home state of Tennessee had the highest rate of instability, according to The Tennessean. That includes children who have lived in three or more foster homes during their first year in the system.
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PILE ON. Democrats intensified their criticism of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after she called for a “national divorce” between conservative and left-leaning states.
White House spokeswoman Robyn Patterson said President Joe Biden ran “to restore the soul of the nation, not to let Republicans in Congress rip our country apart at the seams.”
She urged Republicans to “say clearly whether they agree with Congresswoman Greene’s calls to dissolve the union or condemn her vile push to further divide our nation.”
Republicans, as we noted in Tuesday’s Jolt, have mostly been silent about Greene’s over-the-top secession remarks. But she dramatically lashed out at those who interpreted her idea to divide the country as a call for civil war.
She said the nation has “tragically” reached the point of “irreconcilable differences” that has doomed many marriages.
And she hypothesized about the changes “red states” would make with their new found independence. Greene did not mention that her own home state of Georgia would not be among the red states, since it has two Democratic senators and helped elect Biden as president in 2020.
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ABRAMS OVERSEAS. Stacey Abrams is part of a 40-member delegation that will monitor the Feb. 25 elections in Nigeria, the all Africa news outlet reports.
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for the AJC
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for the AJC
The delegation is organized by the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, of which Abrams is a board member. It’s led by Joyce Banda, the former president of Malawi.
Separately, the Hollywood Reporter writes that Abrams was among the recipients of the NAACP image awards this week, along with Jennifer Hudson, Viola Davis, and other celebrities.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. It’s time to meet the Jolt Dog of the Day, who is, in fact, a cat.
Rollo belongs to Rachel Galloway, the British Consul General stationed in Atlanta, who is also among our most loyal Jolt readers.
Although Galloway describes Rollo as “Atlanta’s top diplocat,” she reports the fancy feline also “has strong views on NATO, energy policy and Atlanta’s weather.”
Rollo made his way to Georgia from his last post in North Macedonia, where Galloway served as ambassador. Along with breaking tensions among high-level diplomats, Rollo can now count Jolt Royalty among his international citations.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion (and cats on a cat-by-case basis) to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
