ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump returns to Georgia on Saturday, the state he lost four years ago, to campaign in a state that is again seen as a strong contender by both Democrats and Republicans.
Trump’s 5 p.m. EDT event with his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, comes just days after Vice President Kamala Harris rallied thousands to the same basketball arena at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Both parties are focusing on Georgia, a battleground in the Sun Belt that Democrats had signaled just two weeks ago that they were shelving in favor of a greater focus on the Midwestern states that form the “blue wall.” President Joe Biden‘s decision to end his campaign and endorse Harris fueled Democrats’ hopes for a larger electoral system.
“The momentum in this race is shifting,” Harris told a cheering, jubilant crowd Tuesday. “And there are signs that Donald Trump is feeling it.”
Biden defeated Trump in the state by 11,779 votes in 2020. Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to change the outcome. Trump was later indicted in Georgia for his efforts to overturn the election, but the case remains on hold while the courts decide whether the Fulton County district attorney can continue to prosecute the case.
In announcing Saturday’s rally, the Trump campaign accused Harris of costing Georgians money through inflation and higher gas prices, which have risen from the pandemic-era lows seen at the end of the Trump administration. The campaign also noted the case of Laken Riley, a nursing student from the state who was killed while jogging in a park on Feb. 22. A Venezuelan citizen has been charged with murder in her death.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly called Harris the current administration’s “border czar,” a reference to her appointment as leader of the White House’s efforts on migration.
But in recent days, Trump has made false attacks on Harris’ race and suggested she misled voters about her identity. Harris has spent years publicly identifying herself as Black and Indian-American.
At her rally in Atlanta, Harris called Trump and Vance “just weird” — a message that has been echoed by many other Democrats of late — and mocked Trump for wavering in his ability to show up for their upcoming debate, currently scheduled for Sept. 10 on ABC.
Trump previously said he would debate Harris, but has recently questioned the value of a meeting, calling the host network ABC News “fake news” and saying he “probably” will debate Harris but that he “could make an argument for not doing so.”
The fact that both Harris and Trump are focusing their resources on Georgia underscores the state’s renewed importance to both parties in November. By going to Atlanta, Trump is tapping into the state’s largest media market, including suburbs and exurbs that have traditionally been Republican strongholds but have become more competitive as they have diversified and grown in population.
In a strategy memo released after Biden left the race, Harris campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon — who filled the same role as Biden — reaffirmed the importance of winning the traditional Democratic trio of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, but also argued that Harris’ position at the top of the ticket “opens up additional voters to persuade” and described them as “disproportionately black, Latino and under 30” in places like Georgia.
Next week, Harris, along with her eventual running mate, plans to visit that Midwest trifecta, along with North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. She’ll make another stop in Georgia on Friday.
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Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina. Barrow can be reached at https://x.com/BillBarrowAP and Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
