Trump returns to scene of his election lies as Georgia Republicans face midterm fight

Donald Trump’s midterm campaign tour moves to Georgia on Friday, where he is scheduled to hold a rally alongside leading Republican candidates in a state that has consistently served as the focal point of the president’s unfounded claims regarding election fraud.

Staged in Dalton, a hub of conservative voter support in northwest Georgia, the event will feature Trump alongside Senate candidate Mike Collins and gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson.

The appearance forms part of a broader White House push to rally Republican voters ahead of midterms that could significantly alter the trajectory of the final years of Trump’s second presidency.

“President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle.

Unlike recent presidential stops in comfortably red states such as Alabama, Montana and Tennessee, Georgia remains a fiercely contested battleground.

Consequently, Jackson, a billionaire businessman, and Collins, a two-term congressman, will require backing beyond core Trump loyalists if they hope to defeat their Democratic rivals, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. Jon Ossoff.

“I’m surprised Georgia Republicans want the president here,” Ossoff said. “The president coming to town reminds Georgians that Donald Trump and Mike Collins” have pushed policies that have “driven the cost of groceries, fuel and healthcare to their all-time highs.”

A spokesperson for Collins, Meyer Siegfried, insisted the congressman welcomes the presidential visit, describing Collins as a “bipartisan workhorse who will work with anybody” while arguing that “Ossoff hates Trump more than he loves our state.”

Bottoms also welcomed news of Trump’s scheduled appearance.

“When Donald Trump says he wants people to imagine that he is on the ballot, I am asking the people of Georgia to do just that,” she said, highlighting Jackson’s pledge to serve as Trump’s “favorite governor.”

The political hazards facing Republicans are already visible even in this staunchly conservative area of Georgia. The district previously elected former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress before her eventual fallout with the president and resignation.

Trump carried the district by roughly 37 percentage points in 2024, while Greene secured it by 29 points. However, in April’s special election to succeed her, Republican Rep. Clay Fuller won by a significantly narrower margin of 12 points.

The gathering in Dalton marks Jackson and Collins’ first joint campaign appearance this autumn. In contrast, Ossoff and Bottoms have routinely held joint events across the state, with their next shared rally planned for Saturday in Cobb County, near Atlanta.

Collins has struggled with sluggish fundraising and ongoing controversies, prompting concerns among some within his own party regarding his competitiveness against Ossoff. Meanwhile, Jackson has prioritized appearances alongside other statewide Republican candidates and party officials, none of whom actively campaign alongside Collins.

“That was not a neglect,” said Trump’s former agriculture secretary and onetime Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue following a previous rally. “I think it was really respecting a Rick Jackson event and focusing on his election as governor.”

When questioned about the upcoming joint event, a spokesperson for Jackson stated only: “Rick will be in Dalton and looks forward to reminding Georgia voters that bad mayors do not make good governors.”

Trump previously visited Dalton on 4 January 2021, just a day before Ossoff and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock secured victories in simultaneous Senate runoff elections. At the time, Trump had lost the presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to acknowledge the result.

“There is no way we lost Georgia. There’s no way,” Trump declared at the time. “That was a rigged election but we’re still fighting it.”

First elected to Congress in 2022, Collins has repeatedly echoed Trump’s false claims concerning the 2020 election. During a debate this week, he declined to retract those statements when Ossoff challenged him.

“There was a lot of doubt in that election. Yes, Joe Biden was the president,” Collins remarked, stopping short of confirming that Biden was legitimately elected.

Trump endorsed Collins shortly before his June runoff victory over former football coach Derek Dooley. When announcing the endorsement, Trump said Dooley had publicly acknowledged Biden’s legitimate election victory.

Gov. Brian Kemp withheld his endorsement of Collins until September, after warning primary voters that the congressman would be unable to win the general election in November.

Similarly, Trump waited to endorse Jackson until after he had won the Republican primary runoff, defeating the president’s initial choice, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Jones had actively participated in efforts to challenge Biden’s win, and the president cited that loyalty when he initially backed him.

While Jackson frequently referenced Trump during the primary campaign—often drawing parallels between their respective business backgrounds — he has spoken of the president far less in recent weeks, choosing instead to align more closely with Kemp.

However, the governor will not be joining his fellow Republicans at Friday’s event, according to his chief political adviser.

“He has a family obligation that day,” said Cody Hall.