Some of the politicians who know former President Donald Trump the best are steering clear of his comeback bid as he faces mounting legal issues, including a federal indictment this week and likely Fulton County charges later this month.
Most of Georgia’s top Republican politicians have avoided talking about Trump’s candidacy. The few GOP officials who have endorsed his 2024 run come from the MAGA wing of the party. They include U.S. Reps. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens; Mike Collins, R-Jackson; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome.
NBC News highlighted the national trend this week with a story that showed only four of 44 former members of Trump’s Cabinet would unequivocally support his reelection.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
We took a closer look at where two of the Georgia figures who served his administration stand.
The first is former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who was one of the few cabinet officials and senior aides who joined the Trump administration in 2017 and remained in their jobs through his 2020 election defeat.
Perdue, a former two-term governor, now heads Georgia’s higher-education system, the University System of Georgia. He has declined comment on Trump’s candidacy given the theoretically apolitical framework of his job.
Credit: Elijah Nouvelage for the AJC
Credit: Elijah Nouvelage for the AJC
The other is former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who stepped down after a tumultuous eight-month stint on the job. We asked him if his recent comments on the Ben Burnett podcast still accurately describe his views on Trump, and he indicated they did.
Here’s what Price said when Burnett asked him whether he would “bite his tongue” and vote for Trump again if he’s the GOP nominee:
“It would be really difficult. I don’t know what I would do, but it would be really difficult. His notion about what the politics and the debate ought to be in this country, and how it ought to be played out, I think we’re better than that as a nation. And we need to be better than that as a nation.”
***
TRUMP ATTACKS. A Republican political action committee that opposes Donald Trump launched a six-figure ad campaign this week in Georgia and other key battlegrounds. It highlights the federal charges leveled against the former president earlier this week by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.
The 30-second ad was financed by the Republican Accountability Project. The spot includes footage of the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with audio of a speech Trump delivered earlier that day encouraging his supporters to take action as the background soundtrack.
“Trump did this,” the narrator says. “He’ll do it again unless he faces consequences.”
The ad also will run in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — all states President Joe Biden narrowly carried in 2020 — as well as on national Fox News cable buys.
***
Credit: Katelyn Myrick/AJC
Credit: Katelyn Myrick/AJC
DA OVERSIGHT. One of the most surprising developments in the lawsuit filed Wednesday challenging the Republican-backed prosecutorial oversight law was the decision by a GOP district attorney to join the legal complaint.
Jonathan Adams, the top prosecutor in Butts, Lamar and Monroe counties, isn’t the only right-leaning critic of the new law. But he’s the only Republican who joined the legal effort to block the measure from going into effect — something he mentioned at the DeKalb Courthouse after filing the suit.
“You have to be able to see the forest for the trees. Today, we may have conservatives and Republicans in the Governor's Mansion and the Legislature. But in five or 10 years, we may not. And what kind of laws may be passed then that may not best suit small rural communities?"
He answered his own question, singling out Democratic efforts to pass firearms restrictions that many Republicans oppose.
***
Credit: Daniel Vernando for the AJC
Credit: Daniel Vernando for the AJC
NOT A CRIME. The State Election Board on Tuesday dismissed a complaint against a pro-Herschel Walker political committee, ruling that the handing out of $25 gift cards at events promoting Walker’s 2022 U.S. Senate bid didn’t amount to vote-buying.
The AJC’s Mark Niesse writes the gift card giveaways at gas stations and grocery stores last year were deemed legal because anyone who showed up received a card.
However, the board’s chairman said he found the Republican campaign stunt “troubling,” and the board voted to send a letter to 34N22, the political action committee that hosted the events, with an admonishment to act appropriately in the future.
***
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
KEMP BACKLASH. The Gathering, a Republican conference to be held in Atlanta later this month, isn’t just attracting six White House contenders. The three-day event could also draw Donald Trump loyalists upset that the former president’s top rivals are taking center stage.
Ultra-conservative activist Debbie Dooley sent an appeal to her supporters urging them to demonstrate at the conference organized by conservative commentator Erick Erickson and co-sponsored by Gov. Brian Kemp.
“Word is Kemp plans on running for Senate in 2026 and he wants to stop Trump from winning in 2024,” she wrote. “He will have GOP opposition. Don’t forget Kemp’s betrayal in 2026.”
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Biden is vacationing at his residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
- The House and Senate remain in recess.
***
RAISING THE BAR. As GOP hopefuls scramble to meet polling and donor thresholds to qualify for the first presidential debate, the Republican National Committee is tightening standards for the second political showdown of the 2024 election cycle.
According to Politico, candidates will need to meet significantly higher benchmarks to make the stage for the Sept. 27 debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. To qualify, contenders must:
- Score 3% or higher in two national polls or 3% in a combination of one national poll and two polls conducted in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. The threshold for the first debate is at least 1% in polling.
- Secure 50,000 or more unique donors, including a minimum of 200 unique donors from at least 20 states or territories, and reach those marks 48 hours before the debate. For the first debate, candidates need 40,000 unique donors with at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in 20-plus states or territories.
- Sign several pledges, most notably one to support the eventual GOP nominee and another to forgo participation in non-RNC debates.
The polls used to qualify for the second debate must be conducted with large sample sizes and by firms that are not affiliated with any of the candidates.
The first debate will be held Aug. 23 in Milwaukee. Candidates expected on stage for that event are former President Donald Trump, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
***
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
SHE’S RUNNING AGAIN. First-term Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch will announce later today that she is running for reelection in 2023.
Deutsch was elected mayor in 2019 after serving on Dunwoody City Council from 2012 to 2000. She has led the city through a challenging period marked by COVID-19 closures early in her term and a recent spate of antisemitic flyers left in Dunwoody neighborhoods.
Election Day is Nov. 7th.
***
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
RIVER KEEPERS. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, will hold a joint news conference today at Jones Bridge Park in Peachtree Corners promoting the Chattahoochee River Act.
The new law is designed to help improve water quality, protect essential public works, and restore ecosystems along the river.
***
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC
HOUSING INVESTMENT. U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, will join Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a news conference today celebrating a $40 million federal grant that will be used to revitalize the Bowen Homes neighborhood.
The group will also tour the 74-acre community on Atlanta’s Westside which has stood bare for nearly 13 years since housing units were demolished.
The Atlanta Housing Authority announced last year that it would work with four private developers to create a mixed-use neighborhood at the site. The proposal calls for 1,892 new rental units, with about 750 priced at below-market rates to make them more affordable to lower-income families. Roughly 100 townhouses would also be built with 72 set aside for affordable housing programs.
***
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Today’s note is a tribute to Molly Rose Revis, rescue pup and best pal to Tracie Revis of Macon.
Molly Rose and Tracie moved to Georgia last year from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Indian reservation for Tracie to become the first director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative.
Molly Rose was Tracie’s companion and fellow adventurer for a decade but sadly passed away on Wednesday. Her friends in Macon and across the country will miss her.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
***
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.
About the Authors
