ROME, Ga. (AP) — The White House insisted that President Donald Trump was visiting Georgia to promote the economy.
But in the opening minutes of his first stop at a local restaurant, the president raised the prospect of voter fraud without evidence, talked up his plan to require voters to show identification before casting ballots, and discussed the recent FBI raid of election offices in the state's most populous county.
“They came in, they took all those ballots; all those crooked ballots were taken," Trump said. “And the Democrats are fighting like hell. They don’t want anyone to see those ballots. Let’s see what happens.”
He added, “We're going to clean it up."
The White House has long said Trump would focus more on the economy, and he frequently complains that he doesn’t get enough credit for it. But recent months have been dominated by other issues, including deadly clashes during deportation efforts in Minneapolis, potential military action in Iran, and his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Trump's destination in Georgia suggests he has something else on his mind, too. After his stop at The Varsity Restaurant, he headed to a steel company in the congressional district previously represented by Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former supporter who resigned in January after feuding with Trump.
There's a special election to replace her on March 10.
As another reminder of Trump's divided attention, Trump opened Thursday focusing on one of his passion projects. He joined representatives from some of the more than two dozen countries that have joined his Board of Peace, a diplomatic initiative to potentially supplant the United Nations.
Vice President JD Vance, in a nod to domestic politics heading into the midterm elections, tried to sell the Board of Peace as a win for the American people.
“The reason that we’re here today is yes to save lives and yes to promote peace, but this creates incredible prosperity for the American people,” Vance said Thursday morning, suggesting that the countries represented on the board represent “trillions of dollars of investment” in the U.S.
Source: WPLG
