Trump Blasts Ossoff as 'Far-Left Extremist' at Perry Rally in Georgia

President Trump turned his Saturday night midterm rally in Perry, Georgia, into a direct attack on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, telling the crowd the senator is a "far-left extremist" and ripping him for votes the president said brought about inflation and record-high illegal immigration during the Biden administration. "Jon Ossoff is a far-left extremist that votes to destroy everything Georgia values," Trump said, as the crowd booed the senator, according to the New York Post's report from the rally.

The Perry stop was a ballot-box mission, not a victory lap. Trump was stumping for Rep. Mike Collins, the Republican running to unseat Ossoff in the Senate, and for Rick Jackson, who is running for governor against former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The Senate race Trump waded into is competitive on paper: the latest AJC poll has Ossoff leading Collins by eight points, 48 percent to 40 percent, with 12 percent undecided. Ossoff is also widely thought of as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028, which makes Georgia's Senate seat a prize both parties are treating as bigger than one state.

The rally's news line was jobs. As Space City Daily reported earlier Saturday night, Trump used the Perry stage to announce that Audi will build its first U.S. factory in Macon - a commitment he put at $4.2 billion, with construction beginning next month on a plant he said will produce 200,000 cars a year. He returned to the announcement in the Ossoff portion of the night as well, telling the crowd Audi had committed to the investment as he promised new jobs for the state.

Perry was one stop on the closing midterm blitz this station previewed Saturday evening: Trump returns to Texas on Tuesday for two rallies backing Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, where early voting is already running at a record midterm pace in Harris County. What he road-tested in Georgia on Saturday night - a named Democratic senator, a 'far-left extremist' label, and a factory announcement as the jobs argument - is the same formula Texas voters will see in person on Tuesday.