A Democratic Georgia state representative shook the table on Tuesday when he endorsed President Donald Trump for president.
With that move, Georgia State Rep. Vernon Jones became the first state elected Democrat in Georgia to give the thumbs-up to Trump’s second-term run, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It’s very simple to me. President Trump’s handling of the economy, his support for historically Black colleges and his criminal justice initiatives drew me to endorse his campaign,” Jones told the news site, adding that he wasn’t about to switch parties.
“There are a lot of African-Americans who clearly see and appreciate he’s doing something that’s never been done before,” he added. “When you look at the unemployment rates among Black Americans before the pandemic, they were at historic lows. That’s just a fact.”
Jones earner no favor from fellow Democrats with his ringing endorsement of Trump, least of all from State Sen. Nikema Williams, the chairwoman of Georgia’s Democratic Party, who flat-out called Jones an “embarrassment.”
“Never has that been clearer than this moment, when he chose to stand with the racist President who has made an all-out assault on Black Americans, who has tried to rip away American health care and who has failed our country in its greatest time of need,” she said.
Other Democratic lawmakers have moved to back Rhonda Taylor, a community activist currently challenging Jones in the primaries in June.
“We’re not sure what was on Vernon’s mind. It’s antithetical to what we believe in,” Georgia Rep. James Beverly, the chairman of the House Democratic caucus, added. “We can’t support an ideology that’s diametrically opposed to who we are and what we value.”
Others have bluntly called Jones a “narcissist.”
“They’re both incompetent narcissists. This isn’t surprising,” State Rep. Scott Holcomb said of Trump and Jones.
According to the AJC, this is not the first time that Jones, a long-time politician, has sided with Republicans, often doing so in the past four or so years since returning to the state legislature after serving as Dekalb County CEO for two terms and several failed bids for other political offices.
And for the most part, Jones remains unbothered by his Democratic colleagues’ opinions of him.
“A philosopher once said, ‘One courageous man in the crowd is a majority.’ I’ve got the courage to express my convictions,” Jones said. “I believe that Donald Trump is the best person to lead this country going forward.”