As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took the stage Friday morning as the first GOP presidential candidate to speak at the RedState Gathering in Atlanta, Georgia Democratic Party chairman DuBose Porter was happy to take aim at one of the top conservative get-togethers in the nation.

He didn't mince words, either:

"If anything, this gathering will prove that the GOP field is nothing more than a dozen or so charlatans willing to say anything to get elected. I'm not sure who will emerge as the 'victor' this weekend, but if any of these candidates end up closer than a mile from the White House, the middle class loses."

The statement came as 10 Republican presidential candidates are expected to make an appearance at RedState over the weekend. That includes Donald Trump, who is expected to be the main attraction at what organizers are calling their "tailgate" Saturday night at the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta.

Trump, fresh off a feisty debate performance, is surging in the polls here. Porter, not surprisingly, isn't impressed:

 "Frankly, the individual candidates don't matter. They'll all gurgle the same tired, failed policies of yesteryear that favor those at the top while kneecapping the middle class.  They're all the same, they all live in the past, and what we really need is a Democrat to move our nation forward."

Click here for more AJC coverage of the RedState Gathering.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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