LILBURN, Ga. — The fall presidential campaign gets a high-profile preview in Georgia this weekend as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump make appearances in Atlanta and north Georgia, respectively, on Saturday.
Georgia will be a battleground state in the contest. Gwinnett County will be a battleground county.
In a race for state representative here last year, Democrat Jasmine Clark narrowly defeated a Republican. The presidential race this fall could be just as close.
"I can’t even comprehend how anyone could support or vote for Donald Trump," said Biden supporter Steven Cullen, who views Trump as a threat to American democracy.
"If the vote was fair, straight-up, I think Trump would win," said Art Peddle, who remains unconvinced the 2020 election wasn't rigged despite an utter absence of evidence of fraud. "I believe that God put a person to stand against the evil principles that are trying to invade our world and our country."
Although Trump lost Georgia in 2020 – and then stoked what became a violent attack at the United States Capitol a few weeks later – it hasn’t hurt him in Georgia, says state Republican party chairman Josh McKoon.
"If you look at the polling, President Trump looks very good in Georgia. We’ve obviously got to work hard to turn out our vote. We’re going to do that," McKoon said.
Democrats concede Biden won’t have it easy winning Georgia again. Democratic chair U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams says it will matter that Biden scheduled a visit here Saturday.
"I think voters actually see that we’re a battleground state. And so we've got to continue to do the work. We’ve got to turn out our voters. And Republicans know the same thing to be true. We’ve got work to do," Williams said.
Peddle said he doesn’t need to see Trump or Biden in person. He said issues will drive his vote in the presidential race this fall.