FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — President Donald Trump spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters Thursday about the economy and politics in his visit to Rome.
The president talked for more than an hour at the Coosa Steel plant outside of Rome. He was here to campaign for his pick to replace Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at Congress and also reiterated his full endorsement of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
He talked about tariffs and spoke at length about affordability, saying he had won the affordability issue, Channel 2’s Richard Elliott reports. He also claimed to have started a great economy, though a lot of economic data, including food prices, shows that may not entirely be accurate.
He touched briefly on the FBI raid at the Fulton County Election hub.
“Why don’t they want them to see the ballots after all these years? You know why they don’t want? Because they cheated, that’s why,” he said.
After his early focus on the state’s voting system, Trump refocused his comments on the economy as he toured a steel company whose owner said it had benefited from the president’s tariffs.
The president, who was fiery at times during his public remarks, also railed against the Supreme Court, which is weighing the legality of his novel use of an emergency powers law to impose worldwide tariffs.
“I’ve been waiting forever, forever, and the language is clear that I have the right to do it as president,” Trump said.
He added, “The tariff is the greatest thing that has happened to this country.”
Trump also claimed that inflation is no longer a problem in the U.S., blaming Democrats for rising costs: “They caused the affordability problem. And we solved it.”
Georgia Democrats accused him of politicizing law enforcement and pursuing fake conspiracy theories.
They said Trump’s trip to a red Georgia district to attempt to sell his “failing economy” is a warning sign to Georgia Republicans.
Trump stopped off at The Varsity in Rome on his way to the speaking engagement. He ordered a cheeseburger and talked with customers and staff.
He was joined at Coosa Steel by Clay Fuller, the candidate he endorsed for the Congressional seat vacated by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Who are the candidates for Georgia’s 14 Congressional District?
More than 20 people threw their hat in the ring, but some have dropped out. The field now sits at 18: 13 Republicans, three Democrats, one Libertarian and one Independent.
Republican candidates include Star Black, Reagan Box, Beau Brown, Clay Fuller, Eric Cunningham, Tom Gray, Trey Kelly, Nicky Lama, Colton Moore, Brian Stover, Meg Strickland, Jim Tully and Jenna Turnipseed.
Democrats include Jim Davis, Shawn Harris and Jon Hobbs. Rush Ruszkowski is representing the Libertarians and Andrew Underwood is running as an Independent.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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