At Gwinnett town hall, surrogates stress Trump's economic agenda

BRASELTON, Ga. — In a town hall staged at the Chateau Elan Winery & Resort Tuesday, Republican allies of former President Donald Trump made their pitch that his economic policies are best suited to support the American working class.

“Working Americans are struggling just to put food on their table, clothes on their backs and gasoline in their cars,” said House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith. “The best solution to solving that is a person by the name of Donald Trump.”

About 250 Trump supporters gathered in the northeastern corner of Gwinnett County to hear how Trump would improve Americans’ cost of living at a time when gas and grocery prices are a top concern for voters. Although Gwinnett voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 by 58.4%, Hall and Jackson counties, which border Chateau Elan in Braselton, supported Trump with more than 70% of their vote.

“We’re no longer the elite country club Republicans,” Smith, a Republican from Missouri, said.

One of the potential solutions Trump has touted is increasing U.S. production of oil and gas, vowing to “drill, baby, drill” during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July, despite concern from environmental groups that doing so would reverse national climate goals.

Former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon concurred. “We have liquid gold beneath our feet in this country that’s not being utilized,” she said.

Audience members, who had a chance to submit questions in advance, expressed concerns about their daily budgets. McMahon read aloud a question from a man who wanted to know if Social Security would be protected for the elderly.

“You’ll hear the Democrats say that President Trump’s going to cut Social Security. Those are all lies,” Smith said.

The speakers also dismissed proposals from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to support working-class Americans, such as a plan to provide first-time homebuyers with up to $25,000 in down-payment support. (The idea has been criticized as incongruous with her other goals.)

Smith said the higher mortgage interest rates that have prevented many Americans from buying a home are because Democrats “spent like drunken sailors.”

Florida Sen. Rick Scott also rejected the idea that his state and Georgia should change their right-to-work approach toward labor unions. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a report that employees represented by labor unions make between 10% and 15% more than nonunion employees. Biden and Harris appeared together on Labor Day to tout their support for unions.

“If people want to become a member of a labor union, that’s an opportunity they have. If you don’t want to be a member of a union, you should never be forced into being a member of a union,” he said.

Nikki Rickey, 57, who lives in Dawsonville, said although she received a raise when Biden took office in her role as a Ford recruiter, it has become harder to buy gas and groceries.

“If we keep going the way we’re going, it’s going to become extremely difficult for people in my class,” she said.

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