According to new reporting released Tuesday, a Republican candidate for the Georgia governor’s office claimed at a campaign event in mid-August that the National Guard will be deployed during the midterms to “watch” for cheating Democrats. This is according to audio obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in which President Donald Trump loyalist and donor Rick Jackson assured a Republican voter that “we’re going to have people watching out for us.”
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Following a rally in Columbus, Georgia, Jackson was approached by an attendee who said he was worried “the Democrats are going to cheat.” Jackson replied, “I know, we’re going to have people watching out for us.” The rally-goer then asked, “Trump’s got federal troops. Can you call up and get some federal troops from Trump?”
“We’ll get National Guard — Governor Kemp is going to watch it for us,” Jackson replied, referring to current Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who is ineligible to run for reelection due to state term limits. “Is that right?” asked the attendee, to which Jackson confirmed, “Yes, he’s going to get the National Guard.”
Trump has made Georgia one of the focal points of his election denialism, claiming that its 2020 race was plagued with voter fraud. At the time, he infamously demanded that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “find 11,780 votes” that would allow Trump to win, but after recounts and audits, it was verified that President Joe Biden was in fact the winner. Despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud, Trump has continued to push the claim, hoping to pass his much-demanded SAVE America Act, which would implement a new level of federal rule over elections, regardless of the fact that the Constitution says they must be state-run. Many Trump allies have raised the possibility of sending federal troops or other forms of poll watchers to polling places, which critics warn could be used to intimidate voters.
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When asked about Jackson’s claim, a campaign spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that he “never suggested deploying troops at polling places,” asserting, “We trust Governor Kemp to run safe and secure elections. Under his leadership, Georgia has been a national leader in making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.” The Examiner also asked Kemp’s office about the claim, which responded, “We’ve proven for multiple cycles now that it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia elections. The same will be true this cycle. We are approaching this upcoming election the exact same way we have in the past.” It is notable that Kemp was Georgia’s governor during the 2020 election, and the statement from his office undercuts Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
According to the Examiner, “Jackson is facing off against former Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the election. Limited general election polling has shown a tight race, and the Cook Political Report lists it as a toss-up.”
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