WHAT GEORGIANS ARE SEEING: As Trump Visits Georgia, Voters Hear About Walker, Perdue, and GOP’s ‘Trump First, Georgians Last’ Agenda

This weekend, as Donald Trump showed up in Commerce to support his handpicked Republican candidates and further divide the Georgia GOP, Georgia Democrats were reminding voters all across the state what Republicans’ ‘Trump first, Georgians last’ agenda is really all about: repealing the Affordable Care Act, spiking health care premiums for Georgia families, opposing Medicaid expansion, and gutting protections for pre-existing conditions. 

Here’s what Georgians are seeing:
 

FOX 5 (Atlanta): Georgia Democrats Hold News Conference to Call Out Republicans Over Healthcare

• FOX 5 Anchor: “Former President Donald Trump returns to the Peach State this weekend to show his support for his Republican picks.” 
• “Ahead of the visit Georgia Democrats held their own event to call out Republicans over health care.”
• FOX 5 Anchor #2: “Several speakers including Congresswoman Nikema Williams held a virtual news conference today regarding accessible health care.”
• Congresswoman Nikema Williams, DPG Chair: “It is my position that all people in the state of Georgia deserve access to quality affordable health care, and that means a hospital within reach, that means doctors within reach,” said Williams. 
• “We have only the second number of counties to the state of Texas, and so some of our counties are smaller, and I grew up in rural Alabama, right on the Alabama/Georgia border. And it was only a 10 minute drive for me to get to Columbus, Georgia to access the hospital to access quality care. What we want is accessible care for everyone.”

WJBF (Augusta): Georgia Democrats Send Mobile Billboard to Highlight GOP Trump First, Georgia Last Agenda

• WJBF Anchor: “President Donald Trump made another stop in the Peach State today.”
• “During the rally, Georgia Democrats sent mobile billboards to highlight the GOP’s Trump first, Georgia last agenda.” 
   

CBS46 (Atlanta): Democrats Hold Meeting Ahead of Trump Visit 

• CBS46 Anchor: “Georgia Democrats are blasting the former president ahead of tomorrow’s visit. During a meeting they blamed him and his fellow Republicans for increasing health care costs in Georgia.”
• Congresswoman Nikema Williams, DPG Chair: “All people in the state of Georgia deserve access to quality affordable health care,” said Williams. “That means a hospital within reach, that means doctors within reach.”
• Liz Ernst, State Director of Protect Our Care Georgia: “We don’t need Trump and his cronies in our state distracting from the real issues that impact us,” said Ernst. “We need leaders who actually stand up and protect our care.” 
• CBS46 Anchor: “Speakers also highlighted Democratic efforts underway that seek to protect the Affordable Care Act and expand Medicaid.” 
   

WSB-TV (Atlanta): Georgia Democrats Rally Virtually Against Trump’s Candidates 

• WSB Anchor: “Georgia Democrats rallied virtually against Trump’s candidates Friday morning.” 
• “Congresswoman Nikema Williams believes their agenda will send Georgia down the wrong path.” 
• Congresswoman Nikema Williams, DPG Chair: “While Democrats are fighting to improve Georgians health care, the Republican agenda puts Trump first and Georgians last,” said Williams. 

GPB News: Trump’s Republican revenge tour falters in Georgia

• Normally, Trump’s Georgia rallies have been crowded, raucous affairs, but Saturday’s event saw a smaller crowd with a steady stream of people leaving throughout the speech. 
• Georgia Democrats, hoping to capitalize on the Republican infighting and shifting demographics, drove a mobile billboard outside the rally blasting current state leaders on their health care policies. 
• “The positions of David Perdue and Herschel Walker – along with every other Republican running in Georgia – are clear: they would attack the Affordable Care Act, gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions, oppose Medicaid expansion, and support plans that would drive up health care costs for Americans,” Rep. Nikema Williams, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia said.
• “While Democrats are fighting to improve Georgians’ health care, the Republican agenda puts Trump first and Georgians last, and will keep people from accessing essential health care in communities all across the state.”
   

Georgia Recorder: Trump GOP kingmaking power to be tested after Georgia rally

• Republican strategists would prefer for Trump to quit fixating on supposed election fraud, fearing it could discourage GOP voters from casting their ballots in what could be nailbiter races for the governor’s office as well as the Senate…
•  If Trump is aware of these concerns, he paid them no heed Saturday.
• “If Kemp runs, I think Herschel Walker is going to be very seriously and negatively impacted, because Republicans that happen to like Donald Trump, MAGA Republicans, are not going to go vote for this guy, Kemp,” he said. “And if they don’t vote for Kemp, they’re not going to be able to vote for a great man right there, Herschel Walker, and we don’t want that to happen.”
• For their part, Democrats are happy to cash in on the Trump fissure in the GOP, airing an ad featuring a parody country song lamenting Trump and Kemp’s “break up” and sending a mobile billboard to Commerce claiming the Republican agenda will cut Georgians’ access to health care.
• “While Democrats are fighting to improve Georgians’ health care, the Republican agenda puts Trump first and Georgians last, and will keep people from accessing essential health care in communities all across the state,” said Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams in a press conference ahead of the rally. “We can’t let that happen.”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein:

WSB Radio-AM: Georgia Democrats say Trump’s visit ripped GOP further apartHold Press Conference Ahead of Trump’s Visit 

• WSB-AM Host: “With less than two months to go until Georgia’s GOP primary several candidates get the backing of former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Commerce.”
• “Trump says a Kemp primary win could hurt other Republican candidates in November.”
• Donald Trump: “Trump voters will not go out and vote for Kemp,” said Trump. “They’re not going to vote.”
• WSB-AM Host: “Georgia Democrats say Trump’s visit ripped the GOP further apart.” 
   

Fox News: Trump Georgia rally aims to pump up Perdue, Walker

• On the eve of Trump’s rally, state Democrats took aim at the former president and his allies as they spotlighted what they call the “Trump first, Georgians last” agenda. 
• Rep. Nikema Williams, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, charged on Friday that at Trump’s rally “we can expect to hear more of those same lies and debunked conspiracy theories about 2020 and nothing about the issues that actually matter and impact Georgians everyday lives.”

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