Donald Trump returned to Georgia on Friday to rally support for Republican candidates Mike Collins and Rick Jackson, using a packed event in Dalton to sharpen the party’s message ahead of the state’s closely watched midterm elections.
The president appeared alongside Collins, who is challenging Democratic senator Jon Ossoff, and Jackson, the Republican nominee for governor. It was the first time the two candidates had shared a campaign platform this autumn.
Trump arrived late for the rally at Dalton Municipal Airport, taking the stage at about 4.20pm after travelling from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County. More than 1,000 people attended the event, held inside an airport hangar measuring about 14,000 square feet.
Georgia’s general election will take place on November 3, with early voting running from October 13 to October 30. The timing of the visit formed part of an intensified Republican effort to drive turnout across north Georgia.
Trump backs Collins in Senate contest
Mr Collins, a Republican congressman and businessman from Jackson, Georgia, thanked Mr Trump for appearing and urged voters to remove Mr Ossoff from the Senate.
His speech was dominated by personal attacks on his Democratic opponent, whom he portrayed as disconnected from working people and aligned with the progressive wing of his party.
Mr Collins described Mr Ossoff as a “trust fund kid” and called him a “test tube Democrat” created by former Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. He also accused the incumbent of prioritising national Democratic politics over the interests of north Georgia.
“John Ossoff, he ain’t nothing but a test tube Democrat,” Mr Collins told the crowd. “A test tube Democrat that was created in a lab by Chuck Schumer to make our life less safe, more expensive, and worse off.”
Mr Collins also criticised Mr Ossoff’s position on immigration enforcement and the Laken Riley Act, legislation named after a Georgia nursing student whose killing became a major issue in the state’s political debate.
He presented himself as a blue-collar alternative, recalling that he had built his freight business from a single truck and saying his record showed he understood the pressures facing Georgia families.
“I’m just an old blue-collar trucker from Jackson, Georgia,” he said.
Mr Trump attacked Mr Ossoff over border security, crime and federal spending, while urging voters to support both Republican candidates. During his address, he also claimed that every adult American would receive a $5,000 payment if Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress.
The proposed payments, he said, would be funded by tariff revenue and would have to be spent inside the United States. He did not set out how the plan would be authorised, administered or monitored.
Jackson attacks former Atlanta mayor
Mr Jackson used his speech to target Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor and Democratic candidate for governor. He accused her of failing to control crime and of abandoning the city during a period of economic difficulty.
“She sided with criminals over police. That’s disqualified,” Mr Jackson said, while claiming that murders and other crimes had risen during her time in office. Those remarks were campaign allegations and were not accompanied at the rally by supporting evidence.
Mr Jackson promised to freeze and reduce property taxes, remove the petrol tax when prices rise and cut the cost of healthcare by challenging insurers and other intermediaries. He also pledged to raise teachers’ pay, impose term limits and support law enforcement.
He highlighted an endorsement from Governor Brian Kemp and said he would build on the Republican administration’s record rather than allow Ms Bottoms to reverse it.
Mr Jackson also spoke about his childhood in foster care and his experience of poverty, presenting his campaign as a bid to serve struggling Georgians rather than a route to political status.
“Georgia deserves a governor who will stay, do the work, and finish the job,” he said.
The rally was briefly interrupted by demonstrators holding anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement banners. Security removed them as some supporters booed, and Mr Trump later praised a woman in the crowd who confronted the protesters. No serious security incident was reported during the visit.
The appearance came days after Vice-President JD Vance campaigned in Atlanta, as Republicans seek to consolidate support in a state that has become one of the country’s most important electoral battlegrounds.
Democratic candidates Mr Ossoff and Ms Bottoms are due to campaign together in Cobb County on Saturday. Further visits by prominent national figures are expected before early voting ends and Georgians choose their next governor and senator.
