Iran’s first-ever direct military assault on Israel over the weekend triggered a political chain reaction in Georgia, where Republicans professed support for the U.S. ally and, in some cases, pressured Democrats to follow suit.
The exchanges came after Iran unleashed a barrage of more than 300 missiles and armed drones, of which 99% were shot down by Israeli forces and U.S. planes and warships.
State Sen. Jason Anavitarte of Dallas, one of the chamber’s top Republicans, pointed to a Senate GOP statement that condemned the Iranian attack and questioned whether Senate Democrats would do the same.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
That led to a cutting retort from state Sen. Josh McLaurin, the Sandy Springs Democrat who said when Republicans “gerrymander a map so completely that no Senate seat is competitive, this kind of question is demonstrably only for show and nothing else.”
Many leaders from both sides of the aisle assailed Iran and urged President Joe Biden’s administration to continue its staunch backing of Israel.
“As I continue to monitor Iran’s attack against Israel, the U.S. support for the safety and security of our ally, Israel, remains strong,” wrote U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the Atlantan who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, House Speaker Jon Burns, and Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon were among the Republicans who issued supportive statements of Israel as it fended off the Iranian onslaught.
Democratic state Rep. Ruwa Romman of Duluth, the only Palestinian-American in the Legislature, saw something cynical on display with the GOP outpouring.
“Car-sized debris fell on Amman as my family slept while Republicans were tripping over themselves playing with talking points,” she said of the Jordanian capital, where fragments from intercepted missiles came down.
“They can’t even keep hospitals in our state open, but we’re supposed to believe they’re international relations experts. Remember this come election time.”
The Georgia GOP swung back: “Perhaps the better question is why has it become so hard for Democrats to support the only democracy in the Middle East?”
The air raid also created new urgency in the ongoing conversation in Washington over aid for both Israel and Ukraine.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” show that he would try this week to bring legislation to the floor that would provide emergency foreign aid.
“The details of that package are being put together right now,” the Louisiana Republican said. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”
It’s not clear what avenue Johnson might take, but he has several options. Still, the funding for Ukraine is a political landmine for the embattled speaker.
If he brings that to the floor in any capacity, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, could make good on her promise to bring a vote to oust him from his leadership role.
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Credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP
Credit: Wilfredo Lee/AP
MAR-A-LAGO MESSAGE. If U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene does take a run at House Speaker Mike Johnson, she got a message Friday that she’ll be doing it without former President Donald Trump’s approval.
Johnson, R-Louisiana, traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida at the end of last week amid the Greene threat to oust him from his role.
But Trump gave Johnson his all-important stamp of approval — and gave Greene a brushback.
“We have a speaker who was voted in, and it was a complicated process. And I think very, it’s not, not an easy situation for any speaker,” Trump said.
Credit: Matt Rourke/AP
Credit: Matt Rourke/AP
Trump added that Johnson is doing a good job, in his opinion, “and I’m sure that Marjorie understands that, she’s a very good friend of mine. And I know she has a lot of respect for the speaker.”
Not so fast. Over the weekend, the Rome Republican continued to post messages to social media calling Johnson a “uniparty leader,” and writing, “A Republican elected Speaker who fully funds and supports the Democrat’s agenda is destroying our party and will cause us to LOSE the majority.”
I completely agree.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 14, 2024
Speaker Johnson is calling my motion to vacate a “distraction” and “not helpful to our party.”
In reality, a Republican elected Speaker who fully funds and supports the Democrat’s agenda is destroying our party and will cause us to LOSE the majority. https://t.co/82YoaE96Og
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
FRIENDLY FIRE. We told you last week that U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, had been given a prized spot on the House Rules Committee by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. But our Jamie Dupree tells us from Washington that it didn’t take long after that for the attacks on Scott from inside his own party to begin.
Leading the charge was the Daily Signal, a conservative news publication run by the Heritage Foundation. A story cited anonymous quotes from GOP lawmakers and staffers on Capitol Hill to savage Scott, who is not seen as a trusted ally of the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.
“He’s got a short fuse and a hot temper,” one unidentified Republican lawmaker said of Scott.
“Austin Scott is a hothead, a notorious hothead,” Heritage quoted one staffer as part of the broadside against the Georgia Republican.
Scott has definitely angered some Republicans for his outspoken criticism of House GOP rebels and members of the Freedom Caucus, as the veteran GOP lawmaker has made it clear that he has no patience for the showboats in his own party in Congress.
“We’ve got a faction in the Republican Party that’s never going to vote for anything unless they get it exactly like they want it,” Scott said earlier this year. “That’s not the way democracy works.”
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Credit: Coffee County video
Credit: Coffee County video
COFFEE QUESTIONS. Several civil rights leaders are asking the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate the theft of election data from Coffee County as a “multi-state scheme by allies and attorneys of Donald Trump.”
Their letter to the feds sent Thursday called for a broader inquiry into Trump supporters who copied election system software and other files in states including Georgia, Arizona and Michigan after the 2020 election.
“The theft of Georgia’s voting system software could enable election subversion, threaten election integrity and introduce new threats to disenfranchise voters in future elections,” according to the letter. “… The Department of Justice cannot rely on Georgia’s state and local officials to responsibly refer these alleged election crimes to their federal counterparts.”
So far, four people have been charged in Fulton County related to the breach, and two have pleaded guilty: attorney Sidney Powell and bail bondsman Scott Hall. But the letter says many more people were involved who haven’t been charged.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr hasn’t taken action since the GBI completed an investigation last year.
The letter was signed by Cliff Albright of Black Voters Matter, Tabitha Paulk of the NAACP of Coffee County, Kathryn Grant of Safe to Thrive, former Douglas City Councilwoman Olivia Coley-Pearson and Gaines Chapel AME Pastor Bruce Francis.
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Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
GEORGIA THIRD. State Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, added his name to the list of supporters of Brian Jack, the former Donald Trump aide competing for the 3rd Congressional District.
That’s notable because that makes three lawmakers who served with former Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan opposing his campaign for the west Georgia-based district.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, who both were in the Senate with Dugan before their 2022 victories, also previously endorsed Jack.
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Credit: Nell Carroll for the AJC
Credit: Nell Carroll for the AJC
LISTEN UP. Today on the “Politically Georgia” radio show, DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond, Republican strategist Eric Tanenblatt and Kennesaw State University Professor Kerwin Swint discuss the political news of the day, including the start of former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in New York.
Listen live at 10 a.m. on 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org.
In case you missed it Friday, former DeKalb County District Attorney Bob Wilson joined the show to preview the Trump trial. Listen at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
WOMEN FOR BIDEN. U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, and Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, were joined by two fellow House Democrats over the weekend in Fulton County to promote President Joe Biden’s reelection bid.
Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio and Jennifer McClellan of Virginia traveled to Georgia for the rally, which also featured Black women serving in the state House and local elected officials. The event was part of the Women for Biden campaign initiative and focused on reproductive rights.
The members of Congress contrasted the Biden administration’s work to protect access to abortion to comments to the actions of former President Donald Trump.
>@RepNikema, Rep. @lucymcbath and other Black elected officials held events in Atlanta today. “We’re here today to make sure we don’t let Trump anywhere near the Oval Office again, so he can’t inflict any more damage on Black women in Georgia or across the country.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/1hsSPedvHP
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) April 13, 2024
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Later, Biden welcomes Prime Minister Petr Fiala of the Czech Republic.
- The House and Senate have evening votes lined up.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
ROSES. Congratulations to University of Georgia freshman Mary Clifton Carr, the daughter of Attorney General Chris Carr, who was selected by the Georgia State Society to represent the state during last week’s Cherry Blossom Program sponsored by the National Conference of State Societies.
Once known as “Cherry Blossom princesses,” Carr’s role as Georgia’s “Cherry Blossom delegate” included singing the national anthem at a ceremony on the National Mall, attending a White House welcome ceremony hosted by President Joe Biden that also included the prime minister of Japan, and participating in a Congressional reception where she was escorted by U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton. The attorney general did the escort honors himself at an evening gala.
And since no festival is complete without a parade, the younger Carr rode in D.C.’s annual National Cherry Blossom Festival parade, which also featured six marching bands from Georgia and the star of TV reality show “The Bachelorette,” Charity Lawson, who hails from Columbus.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Yes, it’s Tax Day. But you know what isn’t taxing? Life with these to leisure lovers, Harley and Molly Gay-Schemm.
Molly and Harley call former Atlanta mayoral candidate Sharon Gay and her husband Neil Schemm their people.
Molly, 12, has been in the family since she was a puppy. But after her brother, Humphrey, died last summer, they found Harley, age 5, through Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia. The rescue idea came from state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, who is not only a friend of the couple but also the owner of former Dog of the Day Henry Oliver.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC. Horizontal photos are especially welcome.
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AS ALWAYS, Politically Georgia readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
