President appears at rally for struggling Mike Collins, dismisses critics and touts ‘most successful’ two-year run
At a rally in north Georgia, Donald Trump again claimed that the 2020 election in Georgia was fraudulent, alleging that the election of US senator Jon Ossoff was illegitimate.
Ossoff, who faces US congressman Mike Collins in November, does not represent Georgia’s values, Trump said.
Ossoff has maintained a consistent lead against Collins, with most recent polling showing him with a nine-point lead against his Republican rival.
Trump claimed he was about to complete the “most successful” two-year run of a president in history, touting stock market gains, low unemployment and poverty rates, and the establishment of “Trump accounts” for newborns. Trump again said that American voters would receive a $5,000 government check if Republicans hold the US House of Representatives, claiming that $21tn in foreign manufacturing investments pledged on his watch would offset the trillion-dollar cost.
Trump also touted his immigration record and the overthrow of the Venezuelan government.
He described the early days of the war on Iran from the perspective of Oval Office meetings and damage reports, particularly of strikes against Iranian leadership.
“They’ll blow up Israel, they’ll blow up the Middle East,” Trump said of Iran and the imperatives of launching attacks. “Iran is the only country where nobody wants to be president.”
The Iran war has caused a spike in gasoline and diesel prices. Trump was dismissive of critics citing the increased cost of living on his watch, describing the term “affordability” as Democratic propaganda.
“In the past 17 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted into the United States,” he said.
An undocumented migrant is rarely “admitted” in any official way.
Trump returned to his regular themes at the rally, which began at about 2pm. About 1,200 people packed grandstands at Dalton municipal airport. Trump took the stage at about 4.20pm, 80 minutes after his scheduled start, with about 300 people standing unshaded in the Georgia afternoon sun. His supporters were undaunted.
“Donald Trump is the greatest president of all time,” said Tracy Spencer of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as she awaited the president’s arrival in Marine One. Asked how she addresses the increasing criticism of the president from disillusioned conservatives, she scoffed.
“Well, none of my friends and family are expressing that to me, because they know better,” she said. “But I have heard the rumors that there are some people that think that, and I would say to those people that growth doesn’t happen overnight and that there are growing pains.”
Trump obliquely discussed his administration’s attacks on anti-discrimination policies he terms “DEI” while describing the “handsomeness” of a US soldier he encountered at the White House.
“Everything is based on merit,” Trump said. “I really have my difficulties with the supreme court, but … our country now is based on merit.”
Two protesters briefly unfurled a banner with an anti-ICE slogan. They were hustled out of the grandstands by security quickly. The assault of a protester in Ohio by Trump supporters in the stands on Monday was not repeated.