Cheers showered former President Donald Trump as he walked onto the stage at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Hank McCamish Pavilion. During his speech at the Oct. 28 rally, the crowd repeatedly chanted “USA, USA.”
Speakers including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R-Ga.), joined Trump in Midtown Atlanta, one day after a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden garnered backlash for a comedian’s divisive remarks about Puerto Rico.
Georgia’s status as a swing state was a major theme of the night. In 2020, Georgia voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in 28 years. Recent polls show that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are in a close race, with Trump leading Harris by 1% in Georgia. Before Trump came on stage, Greene echoed the importance of Georgia in this race.
“The road to the White House goes through Georgia,” Greene said.
Trump took the stage at 6:50 p.m., almost an hour after his scheduled arrival. Emory University student Si Kai Feng (28C), who attended the rally, said he was surprised to see the former president arrive late. Feng, who is president of Emory’s Young Republicans club, attributed many attendees’ leaving early to Trump’s late arrival.
During his speech, Trump noted his lead in the polls in Georgia and encouraged attendees to vote.
“We're leading by a lot, so get out and vote. We can't take any chances,” Trump said.
Trump also addressed the economy and said he would “build the greatest economy that the world has ever seen.” Additionally, he criticized the past four years of inflation, claiming that Harris shattered the middle class.
Trump’s statements are at odds with Harris’ proposals to install a child tax credit for up to $6,000 and raise the minimum wage, which would largely benefit the middle class.
Republican House candidate Brian Jack called Trump’s economy the best economy in the history of the U.S.
“He passed the largest tax cuts in American history, he achieved historic deregulation, and he unleashed America's energy potential,” Jack said.
The economy is an important issue for Georgia voters. An August poll of Georgia voters shows that 26.3% of respondents said that inflation and the cost of living will have the biggest influence on their vote for president. Inflation recently fell sharply from 9% to 2.5% since its peak in June 2022, according to a September report from U.S. News and World Report.
Justin Gibson, a volunteer at the stadium, believes that a Trump victory will improve his life in four years due to Trump’s economic policies.
“I see myself working a nice job, being able to get my own place, a better place, a better car. I feel like the cost of living will be a lot cheaper,” Gibson said. “I can spend less for the necessities that I need, like groceries, bills, furniture and things like that.”
Trump also claimed that Harris would close down social security, which is contrary to Harris’ statements in support of social security. Additionally, he refuted Harris’ claims that he would erode Social Security programs.
“I'm not going to touch Social Security,” Trump said. “You deserve that Social Security.”
While Trump did not explicitly mention his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, he did criticize the U.S. Department of Justice for investigating him. Trump also claimed that he has been investigated more than mob boss Al Capone was.
Other speakers also used rhetoric associated with the controversy surrounding the 2020 election while dancing around any clear accusations about election fraud. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) claimed that Georgia is not a swing state but instead “a Trump state.”
Shifting attention to his border policy, Trump spoke of how The National Border Patrol Council endorsed him. Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also suggested that Harris’ border policies increased crime.
“Kamala Harris does not mention the women who have tragically lost their lives because of the illegal immigrants, murderers and rapists,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is going to restore the rights of women to go for a run and not be murdered by an illegal immigrant.”
To finish his speech, Trump discussed the controversy surrounding the participation of transgender women in women’s sports.
“We don't want men playing in women’s sports,” Trump said.
Leavitt also claimed that the “rights of women” have been lost under Harris, labeling transgender participation in sports a violation of women’s rights.
Greene further criticized the Democratic Party, calling it “the party that supports naked men in the streets exposing their genitals to children at pride parades.”
Feng stated he was surprised to see religion imbued into the merchandise, rhetoric and general spirit of the rally.
“It came out as a shock to see how deeply intertwined religion and the GOP is,” Feng said. “The people at the rally were chanting about God louder than they were chanting about the U.S.A. or Republican values.”
