Letter to the Editor – Dan Arledge

Dear Editor,

Last Saturday, former President Donald Trump came to Perry for a massive rally, where we saw the GOP’s pro-COVID policies and dangerous rhetoric on full display. The last thing Perry needed was this reckless event – our leaders know this, yet Republicans are so caught up in GOP infighting and Trump loyalty tests that they have become entirely out of touch with the needs of everyday Georgians.

Meanwhile, President Biden and Democrats are taking real action to fight COVID-19 and get our community and state back to normal. A Fox News poll shows that 56% of Americans support the president’s plan to end the pandemic. But while the Biden administration works to protect our communities from the spread of the coronavirus, Trump and Georgia Republicans are more focused on turning the pandemic into a political prop and rehashing 2020 election conspiracy theories.

Georgians squarely rejected Donald Trump and his extreme rhetoric last November. Over the past eight months, the Biden-Harris administration has delivered historic relief to middle Georgia, including passing tax cuts for working families and bringing both sides of the aisle together for a bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create a new generation of good-paying jobs. That bill paves the way for a brand-new interstate highway running right through Georgia championed by Democratic Senator Reverend Warnock. I-14 would be a huge economic boon for Houston County, but the entire GOP Senate field – including Trump’s handpicked candidate who joined the rally – is opposing it. These are the sort of investments that Georgia Republicans should be focusing on as we continue to fight against COVID-19 and work to build back better. But instead, they’re trying to drive Georgia in the wrong direction.

Georgians’ lives and livelihoods are still at stake, yet the GOP would rather prolong the pandemic and stall progress on important issues than keep families safe. They are also all too willing to condone hateful language – over the weekend, I saw teenagers riding around Perry with profane anti-Biden signs. We did not need Trump fanning the flames of this toxic rhetoric in our city. It’s past time for Trump and Georgia Republicans to heed the call of Georgians, put aside the partisan games, and join President Biden and Democrats to fight against the pandemic and work to move our state forward.

Dan Arledge

Perry, Ga.

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