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A defiant and bitter Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the state where he faces criminal charges for undermining the 2020 US presidential election as he looks to win the battleground of Georgia as a stepping stone to taking back the presidency.
Mr Trump was campaigning in Georgia on the same day as President Joe Biden, who campaigned in nearby Atlanta, signifying the critical role the state will play in November’s general election.
In his remarks, Mr Trump repeatedly insisted falsely he was the victim of widespread election fraud and he condemned the Georgia district attorney, Fani Willis, who is prosecuting him for interfering with the 2020 election, accusing her of working with the Biden administration to target him.
“They’re trying to take us out, and it’s not going to work,” Mr Trump told the crowd at an arena in Rome, Georgia.
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Mr Biden, meanwhile, took aim at his rival for entertaining Hungary’s right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban at his Florida club in recent days, accusing him of “sucking up to dictators and authoritarian thugs all around the world”.
“When he says he wants to be a dictator, I believe him,” Mr Biden said.
There may not be a more hotly contested state than Georgia in the November 5th general election, which swung to Mr Biden in the 2020 election and was central to Mr Trump’s fraud claims.
Mr Trump is expected to clinch his party’s nomination on Tuesday when Georgia, along with Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington state hold nominating contests.
On Thursday, Mr Biden delivered a State of the Union speech laden with criticisms of Mr Trump, accusing him of threatening democracy, kowtowing to Russia and sinking bipartisan immigration reform.
The president, however, continues to grapple with a backlash among Democrats for his staunch support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, discontent that could manifest itself in the vote in Georgia on Tuesday.
At his campaign event on Saturday, a heckler was escorted out after calling the president “Genocide Joe”.
A coalition of multifaith and multiracial groups in Georgia have waged a campaign urging voters to leave their ballots blank instead of voting for Mr Biden on Tuesday in the hope of sending a message to the White House to reconsider its support of Israel.
Mr Trump’s event was held within the congressional district of right-wing firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, who raised eyebrows when she attended Thursday’s State of the Union address clad in Trump attire was given a hero’s welcome by Saturday’s rowdy crowd.
“Georgia is a key state, it’s a key state in this election,” she said. “We’re going to work as hard as possible to deliver it for Donald Trump.”
As he has done in recent speeches, Mr Trump devoted much of his remarks to the situation at the southern US border. He blamed Mr Biden for the death of Laken Riley (22), a nursing student who was killed last month in Athens, Georgia.
A Venezuelan man who authorities say entered the United States illegally has been charged in her death. Members of Ms Riley’s family attended Mr Trump’s rally and some in the crowd held aloft her picture.
,Mr Biden mentioned Ms Riley’s murder during his State of the Union remarks. He apologised on Saturday for referring to the suspect as an “illegal”.
The president edged out Mr Trump in Georgia by just 0.23 per cent in 2020.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and the state’s top election official, Brad Raffensperger, were adamant that no widespread fraud occurred and that the vote count was legitimate despite Mr Trump’s insistence otherwise.
Prosecutors in Georgia allege Trump and his allies engaged in a conspiracy by making false statements about the election and developing a plan to disrupt and delay the congressional certification of the electoral votes. Mr Trump denies the charges.
Trump and his co-defendants are attempting to disqualify Ms Willis from the case, alleging she was involved in an “improper relationship” with a special prosecutor she named to the case and that she financially benefited from the relationship. Ms Willis has denied the allegations.
Last month, a Fulton County judge heard arguments on Mr Trump’s request and is expected to issue a ruling within days.
Prosecutors have pushed for starting the Trump trial in Georgia as early as August when Mr Trump would be in the heat of the campaign. But it remains unclear whether it will go forward before the election. – Reuters