Trump continues fear-mongering fest at Georgia rally

On Saturday, Donald Trump spoke to a packed venue in downtown Atlanta, where thousands braved the Georgia heat either to attend or protest his appearance. Trump's speech was marked by his usual provocative rhetoric, including harsh criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he labeled as having a "low IQ" and compared unfavorably to Bernie Sanders.

Trump criticized Atlanta's crime rates, calling the city a "killing field" and blaming the governor for inaction. He misrepresented recent crime statistics, ignoring that crime rates in Atlanta have recently dropped back to 2019 levels after a spike during his last year in office.

Using the murder of college student Laken Riley, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant, Trump blamed Harris for the incident, suggesting she should be apologizing to Riley’s family instead of campaigning. He also targeted Republican appointees to Georgia's election board, accusing them of preparing for a legal battle in the event of a Trump loss.

Trump continued with baseless claims about illegal immigration, suggesting that Harris’s win would lead to a flood of "40 or 50 million" undocumented immigrants and chaos in the suburbs. He falsely claimed that Harris wants to ban meat, replace gas cars with electric ones, and raise taxes drastically, alongside reiterating his unfounded allegations of election fraud in 2020.

The rally starkly contrasted with Kamala Harris’s earlier event at the same venue, with Harris drawing a diverse crowd while Trump’s supporters, marked by MAGA hats and Trump imagery, were predominantly white. Trump falsely claimed Harris’s event had empty seats, despite both events being full.

During his speech, Trump was supported by speakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who praised him as a fighter and urged strong voter turnout in Georgia. JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, criticized Harris’s accent and linked the attempts to impeach Trump to the assassination attempt against him.

Polls suggest Harris may currently lead Trump, with both campaigns treating Georgia as a critical battleground. Trump also criticized Georgia officials Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger, accusing them of disloyalty and warning that losing Georgia would jeopardize the country.