ATLANTA — State Sen. Nikema Williams and Black Georgia Democrats say they will "call out Trump's failures" this morning ahead of the president's visit to Atlanta this afternoon.
Williams and other Black Democratic lawmakers from around the state have planned a virtual press conference for 9 a.m. this morning.
They say they will be "discussing Donald Trump's incompetent response to COVID-19 and its devastating, disproportionate effects on Black Georgians."
"After Trump's failed leadership and complete failure to contain this pandemic, Black Georgians have been hospitalized and died at higher rates from COVID-19, which has now resulted in 311,000 cases, and 6,822 deaths across the state," the Georgia Democrats said in a release.
The president will arrive in Atlanta around 2 p.m. this afternoon, then make his way to the Cobb Galleria. He will make remarks there at an event called "Black Economic Empowerment: The Platinum Plan."
Trump has targeted Atlanta in the past as a base from which to court Black voters. He has frequently claimed that "nobody has ever done more for the Black community" than he has, though reports show that claim is shaky.
State Sen. Valencia Seay, a Black lawmaker from Riverdale, said that recent visits by Trump's children Ivanka and Eric, Attorney General William Barr, and an earlier visit by Vice President Mike Pence all show that the Trump campaign sees Georgia as concerningly competitive.
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"They know that Georgia is turning blue. So they’re coming here to try to make a difference," Seay, who supports Democrat Joe Biden, said. "We are ready to turn Georgia blue."
Williams, meanwhile, is running to succeed John Lewis in Georgia's 5th Congressional District. She spoke to 11Alive's Nick Sturdivant last week about the importance of getting out the vote in November, arguing Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has not done enough to ensure widespread voter participation.
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