{"id":1346239,"date":"2022-02-26T22:22:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-27T03:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1346239"},"modified":"2022-02-26T22:22:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T03:22:58","slug":"trump-backs-georgias-buckhead-bill-bashes-rinos-like-gov-brian-kemp-they-dont-deliver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-backs-georgias-buckhead-bill-bashes-rinos-like-gov-brian-kemp-they-dont-deliver\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Backs Georgia&#039;s Buckhead Bill, Bashes \u2018RINOs like Gov. Brian Kemp\u2019: \u2018They Don&#039;t Deliver\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-backs-georgias-buckhead-bill-bashes-rinos-like-gov-brian-kemp-they-dont-deliver%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1346239&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Former President Donald Trump weighed in Saturday on the Georgia legislature\u2019s Buckhead City proposal, calling for state lawmakers to revive the popular bill, which is currently tabled indefinitely, and using the issue as a means to reiterate his grievances with Gov. Brian Kemp (R) over the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>Trump pointed to Atlanta\u2019s rise in violent crime as reason to \u201clet the voters decide\u201d on the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood\u2019s deannexation from Atlanta, which would allow Buckhead to establish its own police department.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhat is happening in the City of Atlanta is nothing short of disgraceful. It\u2019s national news and a regional embarrassment. The good people of Buckhead don\u2019t want to be a part of defunding the police and the high crime that\u2019s plaguing their communities,\u201d Trump said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The grassroots movement to carve the affluent suburban district of Buckhead out of the city of Atlanta has been on and off for at least a decade, but an increase in certain violent crimes in the city \u2014 specifically in homicides and aggravated assaults in 2020 and 2021, as\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantapd.org\/home\/showpublisheddocument\/4604\/637789869741430000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">compared<\/a>\u00a0to 2019 \u2014 and a disapproval of former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms\u2019 (D) inability to address that crime spike contributed to the cityhood movement gaining momentum over the past year.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative gained substantial enough traction that two bills were formally introduced by Republicans into the Georgia legislature this session, one in the House and one in the Senate, that would allow a ballot referendum in November for Buckhead residents to vote on if they want Buckhead to separate from Atlanta and become its own city.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R), the Senate president who has long opposed creating a Buckhead City, moved the Senate bill into a committee controlled by Democrats last month, however, and that seemingly dealt a fatal blow to the effort, at least for this year, because of Democrat opposition to the measure.<\/p>\n<p>House Speaker David Ralston (R) responded to the move by saying he \u201crespecte[d]\u201d Duncan\u2019s decision and that he would not pursue the matter further from the House side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-text\" data-index=\"9\">\u201cWe\u2019re in a pause mode. I and others have put out some important questions that have not yet been answered,\u201d Duncan\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/politics\/duncan-opposes-buckhead-cityhood-in-2022-pushes-anti-crime-measure\/BHLVU3O3PNDTJHF34E5YUS5K2A\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">told<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0<em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/em>\u00a0this month. \u201cWhat is the strategy to stem crime? What is the strategy to deal with Atlanta public schools in the city\u2019s footprint? What are the finance ideas around the bond package?\u201d he continued. \u201cThose questions haven\u2019t been answered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-text\" data-index=\"9\">Duncan also said he wants to give Andre Dickens (D), who became the new mayor of Atlanta in January, time to address the Buckhead crime concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-text\" data-index=\"9\">Bill White, who is leading the cityhood effort, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/02\/21\/exclusive-bill-white-calls-georgia-lawmakers-prioritize-buckhead-city-ballot-proposal-we-just-want-right-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">countered<\/a>\u00a0on <em>Breitbart News Saturday<\/em>\u00a0last weekend that Duncan is \u201cout to lunch\u201d and that after close to two months in office, Dickens has not demonstrated that he adequately supports law enforcement, that crime is off to a \u201cworse start,\u201d and that the Atlanta police force is understaffed.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_19962506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/241265470_922418511960394_2742216057557694705_n.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19962506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/241265470_922418511960394_2742216057557694705_n.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bill White (Facebook\/Buckhead City, Georgia)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"story-text\" data-index=\"9\">Violent crime so far in Atlanta as a whole has not\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantapd.org\/home\/showpublisheddocument\/4670\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">shown<\/a>\u00a0signs of improvement, according to Atlanta Police Department data through February 19. Violent crime data for \u201cZone 2\u201d of the sprawling city, which is where Buckhead is located, shows a mixed trend however. While homicides and aggravated assaults are down compared to this time last year, rape is up, with the police documenting seven rapes in Zone 2 compared to two this time last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-text\" data-index=\"9\">Kemp, for his part, has stayed neutral as local leaders duke out the cityhood issue,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/02\/19\/exclusive-gov-brian-kemp-urges-buckhead-city-debate-atlanta-mayor-needs-to-feel-pressure-on-crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">saying<\/a>\u00a0during an interview on\u00a0<em>Breitbart News Saturday<\/em>\u00a0last weekend,\u00a0\u201cYou\u2019ll be glad to know, we passed a bill last year that doesn\u2019t allow rogue local governments to defund the police, and that\u2019s one of the reasons it\u2019s good this debate\u2019s going on and why I haven\u2019t interfered one way or another, is the mayor needs to feel the pressure on this issue,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve spoken to him directly and told him people are fed up. You\u2019ve got to do some police work,\u201d the governor added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_20032322\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236528303.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20032322\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1236528303.jpg\" alt=\"GARDEN CITY, GA - NOVEMBER 12: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Mason Mega Rail Station at the Garden City Port Terminal on November 12, 2021 in Garden City, Georgia. The recently completed rail station doubles the Port of Savannahs rail lift capacity to one million containers per year. (Photo by Sean Rayford\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during a ribbon cutting ceremony November 12, 2021, in Garden City, Georgia. (Sean Rayford\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In Trump\u2019s statement on Saturday, the former president took aim at Kemp for the dormant Buckhead bill, and also singled out Ralston, Duncan, and three specific state senators:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>RINOs like Governor Brian Kemp, the man responsible, along with his puppet master Mitch McConnell, for the loss of two Senate Seats and 2020 Presidential Vote, Lt. Governor Jeff Duncan [sic], Speaker David Ralston, and State Senators Butch Miller, Jeff Mullis, and John Albers always talk a big game but they don\u2019t deliver. What good is having Republican leaders if they are unwilling to fight for what they campaigned on? Every RINO must go! Let the voters decide on the very popular City of Buckhead proposal!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Trump, in his quest to see Kemp unseated, is backing Kemp\u2019s leading primary opponent, former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), in the race for Georgia governor this year, as well as backing state Sen. Burt Jones, a Republican running in the race for lieutenant governor against Miller.<\/p>\n<p>Mullis, who is backing Kemp and Miller in their races rather than Trump\u2019s candidates, told Breitbart News he in fact supports the Buckhead City bill and that he believes the former president is misinformed.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe Buckhead City movement is something I have been consistently supportive of and any comment to the contrary is categorically false,\u201d Mullis told Breitbart News in a statement. \u201cI will continue to support Governor Brian Kemp, Senator Butch Miller and the others that are focused on governing our State.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears the former president received some \u2018fake news\u2019 from bad actors on this issue,\u201d Mullis added.<\/p>\n<p>Kemp\u2019s spokesman Cody Hall responded to Trump\u2019s attack in his own statement Saturday afternoon, defending Kemp\u2019s efforts at the state level to address violent crime and noting Kemp did not have \u201cthe legal authority\u201d to pass a proposal for a ballot referendum independently of the state legislature:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Governor Kemp signed legislation to prevent rogue local governments from defunding their police in 2021, and created the Crime Suppression Unit to go after violent criminals and street racers in Atlanta in the absence of serious action from previous elected city leadership. That unit is responsible for 384 wanted persons arrests \u2013 including 23 murder suspects \u2013 121 stolen weapons recovered, over 1,100 vehicles impounded, and nearly 700 drug or DUI arrests.<\/p>\n<p>Per the Constitution and laws of the State of Georgia, a measure like the Buckhead City proposal must be passed through the state legislature. The Governor does not have the legal authority to place a local cityhood referendum on the ballot.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In a Trafalgar Group poll\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/02\/17\/georgia-poll-brian-kemp-leads-david-perdue-in-tight-governors-primary-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taken<\/a>\u00a0February 11\u201313, Kemp was leading Perdue in his primary race by about ten points.<\/p>\n<p>A stunning majority of respondents, 75.1 percent, in that same poll were however also in favor of their state representatives supporting the Buckhead ballot referendum proposal.<\/p>\n<p><em>Write to Ashley Oliver at <a href=\"mailto:aoliver@breitbart.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aoliver@breitbart.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/asholiver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@asholiver<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former President Donald Trump weighed in Saturday on the Georgia legislature\u2019s Buckhead City proposal, calling for state lawmakers to revive the popular bill, which is currently tabled indefinitely, and using<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1346239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1346239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1346239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1346239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1346239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}