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CUMMING, GA. – The first day to cast ballots as part of the early voting period in Georgia was Tuesday, Oct. 15, and former United States President Donald J. Trump, the Republican candidate for the presidency, wasted no time returning to the Peach State to talk to voters. United States Vice President Kamala Harris has a rally scheduled in Cobb County on Saturday. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz were also campaigning in metro Atlanta on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign this week. Former United States President Bill Clinton was also on the campaign trail, speaking with supporters in Columbus, Fort Valley, and Perry over the weekend.
As of 2 pm there were nearly 190,000 votes cast throughout the state, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Trump was in Cumming for a taping of a town hall on The Faulkner Focus show. Hosted by Fox News on-air talent Harris Faulkner, the town hall was held in the Reid Barn and is scheduled to air on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 11 am. Trump took part in a similar town hall in Oak, Pennsylvania, on Monday night. The former president also held a rally at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Harris held a rally at the same venue in September.
The town hall had a unique look as the audience comprised only women. This was by design, according to Faulkner, because women make up the majority of voters in this country. According to data from the Center for American Women and Politics, more than 82% of women registered voters took part in the 2020 election. In comparison, 72% of registered male voters cast ballots in 2020.
Faulkner mentioned the record-setting early voting in Georgia to Trump and he took a moment to ask the crowd who they voted for and chants of “Trump, Trump” began. Trump said “Thank you” in response.
Members of the audience were allowed to ask Trump questions and the first was from a woman from Milton and was about affordability of gas and groceries. He answered the question in parts, but also drifted to mentioning the border and “letting all of these criminals into our country.”
Trump said, “We had the best economy in the history of our country,” a number of times during the first 10 minutes of the town hall.
The second question from a member of the audience from Brooklyn, New York, and now living in Fulton County, was about addressing the transgender issue in women’s sports. “That’s such an easy question. We’re not going to let that happen,” said Trump. He told stories of transgender athletes in volleyball and boxing competitions. Asked how he would stop it, Trump said, “You just ban it. The president just bans it.”
Questions from the all-female audience ranged from the cost of child care, immigration, immigrant crime, the death of Laken Riley, the young Augusta University nursing student that was murdered by an illegal immigrant in February, abortion, foreign policy, and the recent responses to hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Trump failed to give definitive answers on how he would address the fiscal concerns, but still received applause for the answers he gave. He said things like, “We are going to end all sanctuary cities. We can do things in terms of moving people out.”
Regarding immigration, Trump answered a Vietnamese women’s question with, “We don’t want murderers, we don’t want drug dealers, we don’t want human traffickers.”
On Harris and the border Trump repeated a common phrase he uses at rallies: “She was made the border czar and she is the worst.” He also mentioned Aurora, Colorado and Springfield, Ohio, as places that are overrun by immigrants. Faulkner did say that many of the immigrants are in this country legally.
“They are destroying our country,” Trump said. “Our country is in trouble.”
On the recent hurricane response Trump said the United States gives “hundreds of millions of dollars to countries, many of them you have never heard of.” He called the responses from the current Biden-Harris administration and FEMA the worst in the history of the country.
Following the third commercial break, abortion was the topic of discussion. Pamela, a Danville, California native and Cumming, Georgia resident asked Trump why the government is involved in women’s reproductive rights.
Trump gave a rambling response that could not be seen as a definitive answer to Pam’s question. “This issue has torn the country apart for 52 years,” he said. He went on to say that leaving abortion laws in the hands of the individual states is what’s best for this particular issue.
Alicia, a Black wife, mother, and United States Army veteran from Fulton County, said she voted for Trump on Tuesday morning and said she “hopes it gets counted.” Her question to Trump was about restoring peace around the world without having to be the world’s police force.
“We cannot be taken advantage of any longer,” Trump said during his answer to Alicia’s question.
Faulkner participated in a similar-looking panel with Trump during the first day of the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention (NABJ) in Chicago in July. Along with ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott and Kadia Goba, a politics reporter at Semafor, Faulkner interviewed the former president on a stage in a large ballroom. The panel is best known for going off the rails than it is for any policy or political points that were made.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spearheaded a Kamala Harris rally in Forsyth County in July before Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was selected as her running mate. For generations, the Republican stronghold has been skewing bluer these days, but there will have to be a huge change for Democrats to win this county. In 2020, Trump secured nearly 66% of the county’s vote (85,122) compared to current United States President Joseph R. Biden’s 32% (42,203). Despite the results in Forsyth County, Biden still managed to win the state by just under 12,000 votes.
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