Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Georgia on Saturday night, testing his hold on the Republican Party as he shares the stage with three candidates he’s endorsed.
Mr. Trump will appear with U.S. Senate candidate and former football player Herschel Walker, in addition to candidates vying for the lieutenant governorship and secretary of state.
The rally is expected to be a showdown of where the Republican Party stands, as Mr. Trump seeks to play up his candidates against GOP incumbents who rejected his unproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
“We haven’t seen presidents in recent years try to drive a wedge within their own party, which is what happens in a primary election. He’s playing factional politics in the party,” Casey Dominguez, a political science professor at the University of San Diego, told The Associated Press.
In addition to Mr. Walker, U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, who is running against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and state Sen. Burt Jones, lieutenant governor candidate, will also speak in Perry, Georgia, which sits about two hours west of Savannah.
Mr. Trump’s feud with Mr. Raffensperger and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who discredited the former president’s claims of election fraud in the state, will likely be on display.
In a newly released book, Mr. Duncan lambasted Mr. Trump’s claims, though he purposely left out his name.
“I will not worship him,” Mr. Duncan wrote. “I will not excuse his excuses. I won’t believe his lies. I won’t mimic his tone. I won’t disingenuously pander to voters he’s misinformed. And I certainly won’t mislead my constituents because he wants me to.”
Mr. Trump has continued to tout claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and assert that he is the true victor if it hadn’t been for widespread voter fraud.
Mr. Walker, Mr. Hice, and Mr. Jones have backed the president’s claims of there being fraud in Georgia and other states that ultimately went to President Biden.
The rally will begin at 7 p.m. EDT.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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