Self-proclaimed ‘Black Donald Trump’ to test ex-president’s brand in

On Feb 10, 2022

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And many longtime local Republicans have already lined up behind a familiar face: Mike Collins, a pro-Trump local businessman who narrowly lost to U.S. Rep. Jody Hice in a 2014 runoff.

“It’s an uphill climb for Vernon Jones here. He’s from DeKalb. He was a Democrat up until last year. How do we trust him?” said Flip Johns, a retiree from Monticello who backs Collins. “Jones is an excellent speaker, but he’ll say anything to get elected.”

And yet, even many Collins supporters privately admit that Jones will be a formidable challenger. At the Pot Luck diner in downtown Monroe, a favorite gathering spot of local leaders, the conversation was abuzz with speculation about how Jones would fare.

David Clemons, the editor and publisher of The Walton Tribune, said the power of Trump’s endorsement can’t easily be dismissed in territory he dominated in 2020.

“Just look around — you still see Trump stickers and flags everywhere in Walton County,” Clemons said of the district’s GOP base, which the then-president carried with 74% of the vote in 2020. “His word goes a long way here. An endorsement that strong will make people consider Vernon Jones.”

Clemons’ description of Trump’s level of support was no understatement.

Trump taped a video endorsement that described Jones as a “very special person” and a “true patriot” that the candidate quickly promoted to hundreds of thousands of his social media followers.

“He’s an America First fighter who will never back down to either the establishment or the radical left,” Trump said. “Few fought harder for election integrity in 2020 than Vernon, and he’s a big supporter of a very good man running for governor, David Perdue.”

Jones joined a growing slate of candidates endorsed by Trump, who has vowed to defeat Kemp and other Republicans who didn’t heed his demands to illegally overturn his election defeat.

Caption

Mike Collins, right, is shown debating Jody Hice in 2014, when they were both running in the 10th Congressional District. Hice, who won that race, is leaving the U.S. House to run for secretary of state. Collins is once again running for the House seat, and polls show him in a commanding lead in a crowded field that Vernon Jones just joined with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.

Credit: JONATHAN PHILLIPS / SPECIAL

Caption

Credit: JONATHAN PHILLIPS / SPECIAL

Hice is leaving his seat in Congress to challenge Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger with Trump’s support. The former president…