President Donald Trump headed to Rome Sunday night to rally the faithful heading into the final day before the November election. A series of recent polls show Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden neck-and-neck in Georgia, which Trump carried in 2016 by 5 percentage points.
A crowd of thousands gathered several hours before the president was scheduled to speak.
I’m in Rome, GA, to cover tonight’s Trump rally. Thousands have gathered despite it being chilly and windy. No social distancing. Few masks. Trump is scheduled to speak in about an hour. pic.twitter.com/XbS3nUZ5iU
— Tia Mitchell, AJC’s Washington Correspondent (@ajconwashington) November 2, 2020
It was one of a frenzy of campaign stops Trump planned now through Election Day to drum up turnout in states like Georgia that were once considered easy wins, but have transformed into battlegrounds in 2020.
With Georgia Democrats making major inroads in suburban Atlanta counties like Cobb and Gwinnett, Trump will need massive margins in conservative areas like Rome to lock in a statewide victory on Tuesday.
Earlier Sunday, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris held a drive-in rally for supporters in Gwinnett, pushing to capitalize on their gains since 2016, when Democrats won Gwinnett for the first time since the Carter administration.
Democrats also canceled a plan to wave Biden-Harris signs in downtown Rome in advance of the president’s visit after learning of a large militia presence expected in the area.
A live blog of the event follows:
9:57 - BIG FINISH- “We will make America great again. Thank you, Georgia, go out and vote!”
9:56 - Trump finishing up-“With your help, we are going to keep on winning, winning, winning.” The crowd joins him for the “winning, winning, winning."
9:55 - Trump: “The best is yet to come.” Crowd: “USA-USA-USA.”
9:53 - Talks about images from the news of cars with Trump flags blocking traffic. “100 miles long of cars, these things have never happened before. These crowds have never happened before."
9:51 - Always a huge applause line, Trump promises to “restore patriotic education in our schools.” Goes on a riff about former UGA superstar football player, Herschel Walker. Chants of UGA cheer- “Woof, woof, woofs.”
9:49 - Trump runs through his promises for the next four years- including “protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions, putting the first woman on the moon and landing an astronaut on Mars.”
9:43 - Trump recognizes the GOP candidates attending. "Karen Handel, your opponent is zippo,” he says, mangling Handel’s last name. He adds 5th congressional district nominee Angela Stanton-King and 7th district hopeful, Rich McCormick. Then this: “Somebody that gets a little more publicity than I do, Marjorie Taylor Greene. I don’t want to mess with her. Now she’s great.” He adds that they all have his “full and complete endorsement.”
9:42 - He also calls Democratic Rep. Vernon Jones, “The hottest guy in politics." And adds, “Man oh man, I love this guy.”
9:38 - Trump recognizes Sen. Perdue. “You’ve got to make sure David Perdue wins, ok?” He then calls out to Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins, who are running against each other on Tuesday for the special Senate election. “Whoever wins, we’ve got two really talented people,” Trump says.
9:36 - President now plays a video compilation of Biden verbal gaffes.
9:34 - More promises from Trump about the future: “We are going to have a stronger year next year.”
9:32 - Trump on the crowd-- “The news media doesn’t like talking about it-- look at my crowds.” The crowd here is several thousand, who have been in place ahead of Trump for hours.
9:32 - President continues-- “If you want the freedom to go live your life, then go cast your ballot for a man named Trump.”
9:27 - Trump promises a vaccine for COVID-19. “We’re going to mass distribute a vaccine within a few short weeks and it will quickly help us to eradicate it." Blames China for “what they did to our country.”
9:26 - Trump talking about state of the race. “It’s called the Great Red Wave....In Florida, we’re about even. I think we’re going to do better than we did four years ago.”
9:24 - Trump tells the Georgia crowd, “I fight for you harder and stronger and meaner than anyone has ever fought for you," he says to chants of, “Four more years.”
9:23 - Trump notes how windy it is in Rome, with the temperature falling to 55 degrees. “I was having a good hair day.”
9:22 - The president just riffing now. “Russia, Russia, Russia...Adam Schiff, Schiff....'watermelon face.'”
9:20 - When Trump mentions China, a member of the crowd shouts out “Hunter Biden! Remember him!” Within moments, Trump starts in on Hunter Biden. “His son walked away with a billion and a half in management fees.”
9:16 - Trump still hammering Biden: “Biden says he’s running as a proud Democrat. And I’m running as a proud American.” Chants of “USA” begin. Trump goes on. “Wait until you see the results of the Great Red Wave....there are going to be some heads that are exploding."
9:15 - Trump leans on Biden and the Green New Deal. “AOC-plus-3, did they take even an environmental course? Ilhan Omar is a part of that crew.”
9:12 - More Trump: “Will the women of the suburbs please for for Trump? I’m giving them safety, protection, and I terminated a regulation that will ruin the value of your house.”
9:10 - President Trump-- “If Biden and...KaMAla...KaMAla...what do we think about Kamala..... She’s further left than Crazy Bernie.”
9:05 - After landing in Air Force One at Rome’s Richard Russell airport, the president descended the airplane’s steps in front the crowd, beneath a massive American flag with “Proud to be an American" blaring in the background.
8:34 - Crowd waiting for the president to speak as temperature drops to 57 degrees.
7:35 - Sen. David Perdue steps up after his cousin, Sonny Perdue. “They want America to become a socialist state, guys. Are we going to let that to happen?”
7:30 - Former governor and current Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue asks the crowd, “Would you rather have AOC or ACB?” referring to recently confirmed Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
If the Democrats win, Perdue warns, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez “and her liberal friends will be running this country and Biden will be a puppet over here sitting in the corner and they’ll tell them what to do, where to show up and what to mumble.”
7:20 - Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan takes the stage, and notes that Gov. Brian Kemp cannot be at the rally because he is in isolation after being exposed to a COVID-positive individual. Kemp attended an indoor campaign event with Rep. Drew Ferguson last week, who later tested positive for the virus. Kemp had been campaigning extensively up to now.
7:16 - Rep. Vernon Jones, a Democrat who has endorsed Trump, leads the crowd in the pledge and a chant of “USA.” Always a crowd favorite, he adds, “I’m a proud deplorable. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m Black.”
“Donald Trump has done for African Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln. I said it.”
He then lights into Biden. “Joe Biden is a racist.”
7:12 - State Rep. Katie Dempsey leads the crowd in prayer. Entire crowd repeats, “AMEN.”
