Trump Tests Midterm Pull in Georgia With Second Rally in Eight Days

President Donald Trump returns to Georgia on Saturday for his second rally in the battleground state in eight days, as Republicans look to his political influence for a boost in two closely watched statewide races in the final stretch before the midterm elections.

Trump is set to rally in Perry at 7 p.m. as Republicans fight to unseat Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and hold on to the governor’s mansion after term-limited Republican Governor Brian Kemp leaves office. Representative Mike Collins is challenging Ossoff, while Republican Rick Jackson faces former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the race for governor.

"I will be doing a BIG RALLY today in the Great State of Georgia, in honor of Mike Collins, one of the hardest working and most respected Congressmen in D.C., and the phenomenal Rick Jackson, who will hopefully be Georgia’s next Governor," the president posted Saturday morning on Truth Social. "They are two incredible people! Their opponents are Radical Left Lowlifes and Lunatics who want to Take Away Your Guns, Open Your Borders, Allow Men To Play In Women’s Sports, and have Transgender nonsense for everyone. I Won Georgia in a Record Vote. See you later!!! President DJT."

Newsweek reached out to the Collins, Ossoff, Bottoms and Jackson campaigns via email on Saturday afternoon for comment on Trump’s remarks and his Saturday visit to Georgia.

The two contests present markedly different challenges for Republicans.

Ossoff has maintained a clear advantage over Collins in recent polling, with a Quantus Insights poll conducted October 15-17 showing Ossoff leading 52 percent to 45 percent.

"Polls — they don't really tell the true story... This race is winnable. It is still the number one race in the country to flip," Collins said Friday on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.

The governor’s race has been considerably tighter. An InsiderAdvantage poll conducted October 12-13 found Jackson leading Bottoms 49 percent to 47 percent. Quantus Insights subsequently showed Jackson ahead 48 percent to 47 percent.

Saturday’s appearance comes just eight days after Trump traveled to Dalton to rally for Collins and Jackson, underscoring the attention the president is giving Georgia as Election Day approaches. At that rally, Trump urged his supporters to view the midterms as a test of his own political movement, telling the crowd that they had to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”

The stakes are particularly high for Collins, who is trying to close a polling deficit against an incumbent Democratic senator, while Jackson is competing in a governor’s race in which recent surveys have shown little separation between the candidates.

This is a breaking news article. Updates to follow.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anthony Murray and Gabe Whisnant.