Trump bashes Georgia's GOP governor, secretary of state at Atlanta rally

Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump criticized Georgia's governor and its secretary of state, fellow Republicans Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger, during a campaign rally Saturday in the key swing state.

After being introduced to thunderous applause by running mate JD Vance at the packed 8,000-seat Georgia State University Convocation Center, Trump lit into Kemp and Raffensperger, claiming without evidence they were trying to obstruct his poltical fortunes in the state.

"In my opinion, they want us to lose," he told the crowd , shortly after similarly attacking Kemp in a social media post where he alleged the governor is behind the election interference criminal case accusing Trump and 18 co-defendants of trying to subvert the 2020 presidential elections results in the southern state.

Kemp shot back with a post on X, saying, "My focus is on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats -- not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past."

The Georgia charges allege Trump and others undertook a "fake electors" scheme and pressured Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to make Trump the winner and tampered with election systems.

Later in the speech, the Republican nominee repeated baseless claims that the July 13 assassination attempt on his life at a rally in Baxter, Pa., came as a result Democratic messaging that a second Trump term would constitute a dire threat to American democracy.

"Remember the words they use: 'They are a threat to democracy,'" he said. "They've been saying that about me for seven years. I think I got shot because of that, okay? People said 'he's a threat to democracy.'"

In fact, the FBI so far has found no overt political motives for the actions of the 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service agents.

When not attacking his fellow Republicans, Trump fired off barbs aimed at Harris on hot-button topics such as crime, inflation and immigration to cheers at the same Atlanta arena where Harris also held a spirited rally of her own on Tuesday.

The pair have begun honing their attacks on Harris in the two weeks since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, including inflammatory remarks made by Trump earlier this week questioning her biracial background.

They have also sought to tie her to Biden's record in dealing with illegal immigration along the southern U.S. border. In his introductory remarks on Saturday, Vance again zeroed in on immigration, blaming Harris without evidence for "500,000 kids being trafficked" by Mexican drug cartels "because of her policies. She was the 'border czar,' the media lies to you."

Harris is not on the campaign trail but is reportedly spending the weekend interviewing candidates for the vice presidential slot on the 2024 Democratic ticket. The party's convention runs Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.

According to the Post , she had narrowed the field of candidates to six: Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

The fact that both Trump and Harris have chosen to appear in Atlanta this week illustrates the importance both parties place on Georgia as a crucial swing state in what promises to be a close election.

Georgia is a historically red state that voted Democratic in the 2020 presidential election. Biden won the state by 12,000 votes over Trump, with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock elected to the Senate to keep party control of the chamber.

During her address in Atlanta on Tuesday, Harris promised to lower prescription drug costs, support a freedom to vote act, pursue an assault weapons ban and advocate for reproductive rights.

"I am very clear the path to the White House runs right through this state," she said.

She also challenged Trump to debate, declaring , "Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage because, as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face."

Trump on Friday confirmed he is dropping out of a scheduled debate on ABC News and instead proposed to meet Harris on Fox News six days earlier.

Harris' campaign on Saturday blasted the move as an attempt by Trump to change the previously accepted ground rules, allegedly prompted by a fear of facing her