Former President Donald Trump went unmentioned during the Georgia Chamber’s congressional luncheon in Athens. So did overt talk of upcoming elections. But politics loomed over the Tuesday event.
Let’s start with U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, one of the first statewide Democrats to address the conservative-leaning gathering in nearly two decades.
Ahead of his speech to the 1,000 or so attendees, Ossoff stressed his bipartisan bona fides to reporters. A few minutes later, one Ossoff supporter texted that the senator was about to enter “the belly of the beast.”
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
When Ossoff took the stage to polite applause, he talked up federal infrastructure investments and green energy incentives that have helped bring tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment to Georgia.
“You will not find me investing my time courting controversy on national cable news or posting insults on social media,” Ossoff said. “That’s not the way to get things done for Georgia. And my job is to get things done for Georgia.”
Then came a memorable line, one that seemed tailored to send a message to Gov. Brian Kemp, his potential challenger should he make a 2026 reelection bid.
“Some may think about Georgia’s economic development as a political contest for partisan credit,” Ossoff said. “But Georgia’s economic development is a team sport. And we’re all on the same team — and that’s team Georgia.”
The statement was a clear rebuttal of Kemp’s recent shot at Democrats who “posture and showboat.” The governor made those remarks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a battery supplier that benefited from federal incentives.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
On Tuesday, the governor steered clear of specific swipes at Democrats and instead trumpeted the state’s booming economy, drawing ovations from the audience.
He unveiled a push to rewrite state litigation rules that could make it harder to sue businesses and win huge jury awards. Kemp said an overhaul is needed because the judiciary “should not favor one party over the other.”
Even with all the talk of business and bipartisanship, here’s the reality check: the conciliatory tone belies the rancor in Washington where partisan clashing and widening GOP rifts are driving deeper dysfunction.
The consequences could become dire, as lawmakers have fewer than four weeks once they return from the August recess to pass appropriations bills and avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
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LISTEN UP. On the latest edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, we deliver a full update from the Georgia Chamber lunch and more from Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. Plus, the latest on the potential indictment in Fulton County against former President Donald Trump.
Get your questions ready for Friday’s episode, when we’re opening the listener mailbag. Just call the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline at (404) 526-AJCP and tell us what’s on your mind.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
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Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
Credit: Steve Schaefer/AJC
BREAK IT DOWN. Speaking of AJC podcasts, the newest season of the AJC’s award-winning “Breakdown” podcast debuts today.
“Season 10: The Trump Indictment” begins where Season 9 left off, with all the details about the special grand jury probe in Fulton County. Hosts Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin will keep you updated about the case as it unfolds and take you in-depth on the players and the historic implications of the legal saga.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favorite podcasting platform.
Coming tomorrow, the @AJC award winning podcast Breakdown begins Season 10: The Trump Indictment.
— Jay Black (@jayblack2) August 8, 2023
Learn the players and the stakes with our experts of this historic case with @ajccourts & @TamarHallerman
Follow now
Apple https://t.co/J2XrFbz0ZP
Spotify https://t.co/fnY0hLibS1 pic.twitter.com/KksVW9Hc6q
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GREENE FOR TRUMP. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, held a lengthy town hall meeting in Gordon County on Tuesday night. She spoke about efforts to impeach President Joe Biden and gave an update on what she said would be the “hard” task of passing 12 appropriations bills through the House this year.
Greene also took more than an hour of questions from supportive constituents.
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Among the many topics were criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump, including one in Fulton County, which she called “a circus.”
“Fani Willis gets paid by tax dollars down in Fulton County to prosecute criminals and crimes on the streets in Fulton County. Do you feel safe when you go down to the city of Atlanta?” she said. “Fani Willis is not doing her job.”
The congresswoman added a not-so-subtle fundraising appeal for the former president, saying, “I’m not allowed to give out donation links, but maybe if you like President Trump …”
Greene also said she’s voting for him, no matter what.
“I will vote for President Trump, even if he is in jail, because that’s the one man I want in the White House,” she said.
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GREENE ADVICE. One of the hottest topics at U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Tuesday town hall was the 2020 elections. Members of the audience voiced suspicions about “ballot harvesting” and a stolen election and inquired as to how the GOP can prevent “another rigged election.”
Unlike at past public appearances, where Greene said the 2020 result had been manipulated, she explained Tuesday that not enough Georgia Republicans cast their ballots for former President Donald Trump to win the last time around.
“If registered Republicans voted, I’m telling you, the numbers prove that Trump would have won Georgia and we would not have two Democratic senators. That is a fact,” she said.
Asked how to prevent a second Biden term, the Rome Republican said: “Vote.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
DOCTOR SHORTAGE. During Tuesday’s Chamber luncheon, one of the topics that U.S. House Reps. Rick Allen and Rich McCormick discussed during their joint appearance was the shortage of health care providers.
Chamber CEO and President Chris Clark mentioned there were 50,000 current openings in doctors’ offices and medical facilities in Georgia and that the number is expected to grow to 108,000 by 2030. But Allen delivered even more troubling statistics.
“We have eight counties in Georgia with no doctor at all, 11 counties have no family medicine physician, 37 counties have no internists, 63 counties have no pediatrician, 75 counties have no OBGYN services, 78 counties have no general surgeon,” the Augusta Republican said.
He cited Augusta University, the state’s public medical school, as a top provider of nurses and physicians in Georgia. He proposed offering free tuition as an incentive to lure those professionals to counties with the most demand.
McCormick, who is an emergency room physician by trade, pointed to the rising costs of health care and its growing share of the overall federal budget. The Suwanee Republican said the problem isn’t the potential workforce, because many people would like to enter the profession, but bureaucracy that makes the work burdensome and not as rewarding.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
MATERNAL MORTALITY. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock traveled to Gainesville on Tuesday to participate in a roundtable at Northeast Georgia Medical Center on the topic of maternal mortality.
According to the Gainesville Times, Warnock cited a recent state report that found the vast majority of pregnancy-related deaths in Georgia in recent years were preventable. The study described the state’s numbers as “criminally high.”
“The (U.S.) has the dubious distinction of far outpacing its peers — other wealthy nations — when it comes to maternal deaths,” the Atlanta Democrat told the audience, according to the Times report. “And Georgia is at the top of the heap … that’s bad news and good news: The bad news is we’ve got these deaths, and they were totally preventable. The good news is if we can remain focused, we can do something about it.”
Partially in response to that state report, Warnock and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, introduced legislation that would give states more resources to address disparities in maternal mortality rates.
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Credit: Emily Haney/AJC
Credit: Emily Haney/AJC
BECK LOSES APPEAL. Last year, Georgia voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment allowing the state to cut off pay to suspended officials who are awaiting trial on charges related to their tenures in office.
Our colleague James Salzer reports that the man whose case inspired the amendment, former Georgia Insurance Commissioner Jim Beck, has lost a federal appeal of his 2021 conviction on 37 counts of fraud and money laundering. Beck was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme to embezzle more than $2 million from the Georgia Underwriting Association, his former employer. His appeal was denied earlier this week.
Beck, the one-time head of the Georgia Christian Coalition, was indicted four months after taking office in 2018 but continued to draw $200,000 in salary and benefits while awaiting trial. When Kemp appointed John King to replace him on July 1, 2019, taxpayers then paid the salaries of both commissioners until Beck’s conviction later that month. King won election to a full term in 2022.
Following Salzer’s reports on Beck’s salary while under indictment in 2021, Georgia lawmakers renewed a push to change state law on paying suspended officials facing trial on felony charges. The measure, a constitutional amendment, appeared on voter ballots in November 2022 and passed with 88% of the vote.
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
TODAY IN WASHINGTON
- President Joe Biden will attend a groundbreaking for a wind tower manufacturing facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He will also deliver remarks on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act becoming law.
- The House and Senate remain in recess.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Meet Pearl Jenkins Anderson, the pretty rescue pup from Roswell who calls AJC subscriber Larry Anderson and Jan Jenkins her people.
A reliable source tells us Pearl is a “bipartisan pup who loves everybody,” in a family where politics was once the family business.
Jan Jenkins is the daughter of the late U.S. Rep. Ed Jenkins. He was the 9th District congressman from Jasper who championed both the Georgia textile industry and the North Georgia wilderness where plenty of our Dogs of the Day now love to roam.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
