Atlanta Events category interest

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Ohio senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance was in Cobb County Monday night, headlining an event with the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Vance courted religious voters in an important part of the metro Atlanta area. Cobb County, once a Republican stronghold, went for President Joe Biden in 2020 and is currently locked in a tight race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Vance was joined by Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, Congressman Mike Collins and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt.

“Our leadership committee is dedicated to spending $2 million to help our candidates win in swing districts,” said Kemp.

Bishop Kelvin Cobaris with Dreams United Church in Orlando, Florida, was also a speaker and supports the Trump-Vance ticket for their strong ties to religious values.

“Policies that reflect what we are convicted by and what we believe in,” said Cobaris. “I’m not voting for a personality. I’m not voting for even a party platform. I’m voting for a conviction of an agenda that I live by, which is for pro-life, religious freedom, support for Israel, and supporting equal justice for all Americans.”

Abortion will be a cornerstone issue for many voters in November. Georgia made headlines Monday after a ProPublica report detailed the story of Georgia mother Amber Nicole Thurman, who died in need of a simple procedure her doctors at Piedmont Henry Hospital couldn’t perform because it violated the state’s abortion law. A state committee of experts in Georgia, according to ProPublica, deemed Thurman’s death “preventable.”

“Doctors testified that these bans are dangerous and that women will die,” said state Rep. Shea Roberts, D-Atlanta. “We now know that Amber Nicole Thurman’s death was preventable. She would still be here today, and Donald Trump brags about overturning Roe vs. Wade.”

“We are proud to be the pro-life party in the United States of America,” said Vance. “The Democrat Party’s extremism on abortion, opposing even routine safety regulations, more closely resembles policies of China, of North Korea, of the Soviet Union more than any modern democracy.”

“How can you say you’re pro-life when you’re not protecting the mother and making sure the mother can stay there to take care of her other children? That is not pro-life. That is not pro-family,” said Roberts.

“We’re going to do new investments in education and pregnancy care centers and so much more, because we believe this country needs to be welcoming to families,” said Vance.

Vance’s visit comes just one day before his counterpart, Democratic vice-presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, visits Atlanta.

RELATED: Ossoff leads Senate subcommittee on impact of Georgia’s abortion laws

The dueling visits show the vast importance of Georgia as campaign season winds down.

“The path to victory leads right through Georgia,” said Roberts. “We are getting used to being the center of the political universe.”

Vance spoke on the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life Sunday afternoon.

“He said, ‘Yeah, I’m doing fine.’ And this is just who Donald Trump is. He said, ‘I’m a little mad because I was about to make a birdie putt on the sixth hole, and they wouldn’t let me finish,’” said Vance. “That is the kind of guy you want to be president of the United States, right? Who’s phased by nothing.”

The dinner began with a prayer for Trump’s safety.

“You know the big difference between conservatives and liberals, is that no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months,” said Vance. “I do think that we should take this opportunity to call for a reduction in the ridiculous and inflammatory political rhetoric coming from too many corners from our politics.”