Vice President Kamala Harris (left) at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Former President Donald Trump (right) at a rally in Macon, Georgia, on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Brynn Anderson and Evan Vucci/AP)
With Georgia still a tossup, the Trump and Harris campaigns both descended on the state during the final weekend before Election Day.
Former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz headlined rallies. and U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is scheduled to campaign in Georgia on Monday.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally outside the Atlanta Civic Center, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Democrats rally in metro Atlanta
With help from Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz and fall foliage and the city skyline as a backdrop in Old Fourth Ward on Saturday, Harris applauded the more than 4 million Georgians who have already voted and urged them to talk to others about the consequences of electing Trump.
“This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and the man is out for unchecked power. And in less than 90 days, it’s either going to me or him in the Oval Office.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at a campaign rally in Cobb County on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
On Sunday, Walz rallied voters inside a Cobb County hotel ballroom with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Jon Bon Jovi and Michael Stipe, from Athens band R.E.M.
“Get off the poller-coaster,” Walz told the crowd. “Do something productive on this. If you want to get rid of that anxiety, go vote.”
“Georgia, if you turn out and vote like you did last time, Trump’s going to be looking to find more than 11,780 votes,” Emhoff said, referring to the January 2021 phone call when Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find him votes.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Macon, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump holds final Georgia rally in Macon
During a lengthy, late-night rally at an amphitheater in Macon on Sunday, Trump returned to a central theme of his campaign – painting a dark picture of the country plagued by illegal immigration and crime.
“The day I take the Oath of Office, the migrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins immediately,” he said.
Trump’s remarks in Georgia came a few hours after a rally in Pennsylvania, when he said he would not “mind” if reporters at his rally were shot and said he “shouldn’t have left” the White House in 2021.
With more than 50% of Georgians having already voted, the message from many of Sunday’s speakers was to get more supporters to the polls.
“This isn’t a rally, you know what this is,” Trump said. “This is a request to tell everybody just to go, please just go and vote on Tuesday.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Herschel Walker listen as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Macon, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A number of supporters, noting that this was Trump’s last Georgia rally before Election Day, called it an honor or a blessing to be here. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also addressed the future.
“This may be the last Trump rally in Georgia of this campaign cycle, but this is not the end of the MAGA movement,” she said.
Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who lost to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a 2022 runoff, also addressed the rally. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones also spoke, blaming the national media for the two assassination attempts against Trump.
Voters feeling a range of emotions
Supporters at Harris’ final Georgia rally said they were nervous and hopeful.
Quintin Dodds of Atlanta believes the choice should be clear for Harris.
“What makes me nervous is how tight this race is and it should not be tight,” Dodds said. “It’s an unqualified person versus a severely experienced person. So it just, it makes no sense and it speaks volumes for how, what American to how America is.”
It’s a critical election year, and Georgia is at the center of it. Stay in the know with WABE’s 2024 Georgia Elections page, where you can find WABE’s latest election news and podcast episodes, important dates, voting locations, candidate info, results and more.
In Macon, many of Trump’s supporters said they felt prayerful and optimistic.
Bridgette Wright from Milledgeville said she expects good voter turnout.
“I believe that people are gonna vote by their convictions like I do,” she said. “You know, we wanna save our country. We’re tired of what’s going on at the border. We’re tired of the inflation. We’re tired of all the people coming across the border not vetted and they get more rights than we do.”
Total turnout is expected to top 5 million voters by the end of Election Day.
Sam Gringlas reported from Atlanta. Rahul Bali reported from Atlanta and Macon.
