False fraud claims return to Georgia

Speaking at a Trump Georgia rally at Dalton municipal airport, Donald Trump claimed the 2020 election in Georgia was fraudulent and alleged that the election of US senator Jon Ossoff was illegitimate. Trump said Ossoff does not represent the state's values, adding, "And he was never elected."

Rally setting at Dalton airport

The event began at about 2pm, with about 1,200 people packed into grandstands. Trump took the stage at about 4.20pm, 80 minutes after his scheduled start, with about 300 people standing unshaded in the afternoon sun.

• •Two protesters briefly unfurled an anti-ICE banner before security removed them.
• •The assault of a protester in Ohio by Trump supporters in the stands on Monday was not repeated.

Attendees stayed loyal through the wait. Tracy Spencer of Chattanooga, Tennessee, said, "Donald Trump is the greatest president of all time," and said of conservatives critical of him that "growth doesn't happen overnight and that there are growing pains."

Claims on the economy and immigration

Trump described his first two years as the most successful run of any president in history, citing stock market gains, low unemployment and poverty rates, and Trump accounts for newborns. He repeated that voters would receive a $5,000 government check if Republicans hold the House, saying $21tn in foreign manufacturing investments pledged on his watch would offset the trillion-dollar cost; most of those pledges remain unfulfilled.

• •Trump dismissed cost-of-living criticism, calling the term "affordability" Democratic propaganda.
• •He claimed that in the past 17 months zero illegal aliens were admitted into the United States, though an undocumented migrant is rarely "admitted" in any official way.

Foreign policy remarks

Trump touted his immigration record and the overthrow of the Venezuelan government, saying, "Forty-eight hours, and that war was done." He described the early days of the war on Iran, citing Oval Office meetings and damage reports on strikes against Iranian leadership. Of Iran he said, "They'll blow up Israel, they'll blow up the Middle East," adding that Iran is the only country where nobody wants to be president. The Iran war has caused a spike in gasoline and diesel prices.

The race context

Ossoff faces US congressman Mike Collins in the November election, with most recent polling showing him with a nine-point lead against his Republican rival. Trump also discussed his attacks on anti-discrimination policies he terms "DEI", saying "Everything is based on merit" and noting difficulties with the supreme court.