President Donald Trump has earned the support of Georgia state representative Vernon Jones, a Democrat from Lithonia, who has expressed his pubic support for his re-election campaign.
Jones made the announcement officially on Tuesday after posting pro-Trump statements on his social media account for months. He has become the first Democrat elected official in Georgia to support President Trump, and his defiant stance has enraged the leadership within his state party.
“It’s very simple to me. President Trump’s handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives drew me to endorse his campaign,” Jones told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his controversial decision to support President Trump’s MAGA agenda.
Jones does not have an intention to switch parties at the present time. He is merely putting his partisan sentiments aside and choosing who he feels the best man to lead the country.
“There are a lot of African Americans who clearly see and appreciate he’s doing something that’s never been done before,” Jones said. “When you look at the unemployment rates among black Americans before the pandemic, they were at historic lows. That’s just a fact.”
State Sen. Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of the Georgia Democrat Party, took Jones to task for leaving the reservation. She claimed Jones is an “embarrassment” who does not adequately represent Georgia values.
“Never has that been clearer than this moment, when he chose to stand with the racist president who has made an all-out assault on black Americans, who has tried to rip away American health care and who has failed our country in its greatest time of need,” she said.
Jones’ principled decision may have electoral repercussions. The three highest-ranking Democratic lawmakers in the House are now backing Jones’ left-wing opponent, Rhonda Taylor. House Minority Leader Bob Trammell of Luthersville says he is writing a check to Taylor’s campaign immediately. She hopes to defeat Jones during the upcoming June primary election.
“We’re not sure what was on Vernon’s mind. It’s antithetical to what we believe in,” said Democrat state Rep. James Beverly of Macon, who serves as chairman of Georgia’s House Democrat Party caucus. “We can’t support an ideology that’s diametrically opposed to who we are and what we value.”
Jones has always been a maverick Democrat of sorts. He has worked with Republicans to crack down on illegal aliens. He has also pushed back against the LGBT agenda, making candid remarks that some far-left activists considered to be transphobic.
“You might be a man one day and a woman the next, I don’t even know who you are,” Jones reportedly told Doraville City Councilmember Stephe Koontz, the state’s only openly transgender public official. Jones also allegedly said that “LGBTQ rights are not civil rights,” according to Koontz.
President Trump’s style of leadership has won over certain Democrats that care more about making America a strong country than pandering to the likes of transgenders and illegal aliens. Now that Jones has come out of the closet regarding his support for President Trump, more African-Americans and Democrats are free to follow his lead.