BANKS COUNTY, Ga. — It was a windy night and not particularly warm when a large crowd of former President Donald Trump supporters came to an old, windswept drag strip in Banks County to endorse his handpicked Republican candidates for office in the state of Georgia.
“By the way, do you mind if I put on a hat?” Trump asked. “It’s windy as hell out here.”
The former president called on his supporters to come to the rally and listen as he campaigned for a list of candidates including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Vernon Jones and especially Herschel Walker.
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His appearance was 90 minutes later than scheduled, but the crowd ate up the speech and was excited to hear from everyone on the stage.
“Hello there! Let me hear you! Herschel Walker! Come on!” Walker shouted.
Trump saved his strongest endorsement for former Georgia Senator David Perdue, who is challenging incumbent Brian Kemp for governor. Perdue is trailing Kemp in most early polling.
Kemp quickly became the target of Trump’s anger as he once again drifted back to his list of grievances and unfounded conspiracy theories in a rambling speech that was often laced with profanities.
“And if there’s one thing the people of Georgia need to know about this race,” Trump said. “It’s that Brian Kemp, he sold you out. He didn’t look. He didn’t want to look. He didn’t want anything to do with it.”
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Perdue followed that with, for the first time, his strongest statement about those conspiracy theories. This is despite multiple investigations showing there was never any hint of massive voter fraud in Georgia.
“In the state of Georgia, thanks to Brian Kemp, our elections in 2020 were absolutely stolen, yeah!” Perdue said.
On Thursday, Channel 2′s Richard Elliot spoke one-on-one with Kemp, who said he can’t worry about what other people are doing. Kemp said the only endorsement he wants, is from the voters of Georgia.
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On Friday morning, ahead of the rally, Georgia’s Democrats rallied against all of Trump’s candidates. Congresswoman Nikema Williams said their agenda will send Georgia spiraling down the wrong path.
“While Democrats are fighting to improve Georgian’s health care, the Republican agenda puts Trump first and Georgia last,” Williams said.
In a statement after Saturday night’s rally Georgia’s Democrats said, “Donald Trump’s increasingly unhinged speeches are a constant reminder of what the Republican party is beholden to. They stood idly by as Trump undermined NATO and enabled Putin. The American people and the world see the difference in what real leadership looks like.”
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