Biden and Trump take aim at each other in Atlanta, prelude to debate

Further attacks came following Trump’s criminal conviction and attacks on Biden’s domestic agenda. Some of Georgia’s top politicians have been implicated.

All of this was just a prelude to Thursday’s showdown in Atlanta, the first and potentially only time Biden and Trump share the same stage this election cycle. The debate on CNN begins at 9 p.m. and tens of millions of voters are expected to watch it. Democrats took the opportunity Wednesday to highlight Trump’s 34-count conviction in the New York hush money case, launching five billboards in English and Spanish in high-traffic areas featuring the photo of the former president.

“The man Georgia voters rejected in 2020 has become even more unhinged and vengeful over the past four years,” said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jackie Bush.

On the airwaves, the Biden campaign is continuing its $50 million paid media blitz in June with new advertising in Georgia and other battleground states. The spot aired Wednesday and invoked the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a wealthy executive and key Trump ally, has provided Trump with her own air cover. His Greater Georgia group launched a 30-second digital ad welcoming Trump to Atlanta — and lambasting Biden’s policies.

But the defining political events of the era were simultaneous campaign rallies aimed at putting rivals on the defensive.

At the Georgia Capitol, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger stood side by side in support of Biden — and urging other Republicans to swallow their misgivings and support the Democrat as well.

“If you had told me three years ago that you would support a Democrat for president in three years, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” said Kinzinger, who had given Biden his blessing hours earlier. “But the stakes at the moment are too high.”

Duncan has spent some more time in Biden’s orbit. He endorsed the Democratic Party a few weeks ago after briefly considering a third-party presidential bid.

“Going against the grain as a Republican and supporting Democrat Joe Biden is not easy. But I’m not looking at this election from the perspective of being a Republican,” said Duncan, who was elected to Georgia’s second office in 2018 and did not seek a second term.

“I look through the lens of an American more concerned about the future of my country than my party’s morally bankrupt candidate.”

Even as they spoke, a small crowd gathered at Rocky’s Barbershop in Buckhead, where two Black Republican lawmakers and a handful of Black business owners and activists rallied support for Trump.

Minutes into the event, Trump called in to boast about support from black voters that had “exploded” since he was accused of election interference in the Fulton County racketeering case. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released this week showed Trump had 9% support among likely black voters, on par with other Republican candidates.

Among the speakers was Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican who has been considered by Trump’s team as a potential vice presidential candidate. He said the Republican Party should tailor its message more precisely to black voters.

“For our people, there is a fundamental question we must ask: ‘How will your life be with four more years of Joe Biden?'” he said. “Because what I hear a lot of these young people say is, ‘Where’s Trump?’ Can we get it back?’