Trump campaign opens new office in Athens, near UGA campus

ATHENS, GA – While former United States President Donald J. Trump was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and United States Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage a couple hours away at a rally in Philadelphia, the Trump campaign was busy opening the doors of a new campaign office in Athens on Saturday. This office is the latest location for the Trump campaign in Georgia, a crucial battleground state for both the Biden-Harris administration and Trump campaign.

Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and “Never Surrender” Trump t-shirts used the paper plates from the pizza table to fan themselves while others held umbrellas to keep the sun off their heads. The extreme heat did not stop a large crowd from making their way to the S. Milledge Avenue office park for the event.

Georgia Congressman Mike Collins (District 10) and Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman were two of the speakers that addressed the crowd. While Chapman focussed his remarks on more familiar Trump campaign topics such as border control, Collins took this opportunity to talk to his constituents about the importance of voting this election.

“If we don’t close up that border it’s going to change our way of life here,” said Chapman, who will be retiring later this year.

Collins, who wore a red MAGA cap that was autographed by Trump, kept voting for the former president at the forefront of his message.

I’ve been on that Trump train since 2016 and I’ve never got off,” Collins said. “Is there anybody here that’s 100 percent  positive that they aren’t going to vote for Donald Trump in November?,” he asked. “Good, that means you’re at the right place.”

Collins said he wanted the voters to vote for Trump so “we can get this place back on track and take our country back.”

Collins spoke with the media afterwards and acknowledged that he will be in Milwaukee next week for the Republican National Convention. Asked what he thought about the decision by United States President Joseph R. Biden continued campaigning for a second term, Collins said he didn’t care who Trump was running against and that it is much more important to get the word out to Trump supporters that they need to vote in the coming election.

“I don’t care who he is running against, it’s just the mere fact that we need to turn out the vote,” Collins explained. “People across this country have lived the past seven and a half years and understand the differences in these two candidates and these two administrations, so whether it’s Joe Biden or whoever it is it will still be the same socialist agenda versus the Trump America first agenda. They want that back. They want back what they had.”

Despite the extreme heat, a crowd of dozens of people sat and stood in front of the new campaign location to hear from a number of Trump surrogates and supporters. Athena Eisenman, a 76-year-old Athens resident, Alabama native and school teacher was in attendance in support of the former president. She told The Atlanta Voice that she has always been engaged in the political process and that she was looking forward to voting in November.

“I think he’s the most exciting candidate running for president,” said Eisenman about the former president. “He understands foreign affairs, how to get the attention of foreign leaders, economics, and how to run the country.”

Asked what she thought about some of the agism that is taking place during this campaign, Eisenman said, “I may be a senior but I can still read, write, and decipher.”

Following the opening remarks from Collins and Chapman, the crowd was offered an opportunity to take a volunteer training in cooler conditions inside the campaign office. Many people in attendance filled a room inside the campaign office to take part in the training session.

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