The Georgia State Convocation Center, known for hosting Panther Basketball games, commencement ceremonies, and first-year convocations, recently became the stage for two of the most crucial political rallies in this year’s presidential race.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each visited Georgia four days apart last July as part of their campaign trails. Both candidates selected the Convocation Center as their venue of choice, drawing crowds from both sides of the political spectrum large enough to bring the building to capacity.
Vice President Harris was the first to speak at the center on July 30, with a rally that featured notable Georgia Democrats such as Rep. Stacey Abrams, Mayon Andre Dickens, Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof, and a musical performance by artist Megan Thee Stallion.
With this being Harris’s first large rally after announcing her run for presidency, she took the stage to address some key issues driving her newly launched campaign. Issues like gun violence, middle-class affordability, reproductive rights and border security. She also took a swipe at her political opponent, urging him to organize a debate.
“Well Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider meeting me on the debate stage. Because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face” she said. Since the rally, both candidates have agreed to a debate hosted on Sept.10 by ABC News.
Harris also touched on the importance of Georgia as a swing state, saying, “The path to the White House runs right through this state”. Harris narrowly won the state alongside President Joe Biden in the last presidential election, and is currently seen as one of seven battleground states.
Harris ended her time speaking by highlighting the three-month countdown until the presidency is decided, before telling the crowd, “let’s get to work”.
After Harris’s rally, the Convocation Center didn’t sit empty for long. The following weekend former President Donald Trump hosted his own rally, with a drastically different tone.
Trump’s rally included speeches from Republican figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, and his running mate Sen. JD Vance. Trump then spoke, sharing with the crowd his position on the state of the economy and southern border before turning to more targeted attacks towards his opponent.
“She happens to be a really low IQ individual. We don’t need a low IQ individual,” Trump said of the vice-president Kamala Harris. “They love dealing with low IQ individuals … She’s Bernie Sanders but not as smart.”
Trump also criticized Governor Brian Kemp, calling him “disloyal” and a “bad guy”. He blamed Kemp for his loss of Georgia during the 2020 election, and for the ongoing legal challenges against him and his associates related to his attempts to overturn the election results.
Politicians weren’t the only ones facing attacks from Trump. Georgia State University actually received some comments about the capacity of the Convocation Center.
“I don’t know anything about this school but they could have allowed more people,” said Trump. “I’m not sure if I’m going to be sending anybody to this school, I’m not happy about it”.
Georgia State students shared both support and concern over the choice to hold these rallies at the Convocation Center on social media. Concerns were raised about safety, but some also shared their hopes for the school to host more high profile events in the future.
“I feel like this rally is going to be kind of legendary in a sense,” shared Georgia State student Julian Weems who attended the Harris rally. “As a young voter it has been a long time since I’ve seen this much interest and support in a future president”.
