Pat Donahue/Times-EnterpriseDr. Alveda King, left, and Ginger Howard talked about their experiences together in promoting their book.

THOMASVILLE — Vernon Jones made no bones about being a Black man and a Democrat on Thursday evening.

He also made it clear to the Rally for Freedom that he supports President Trump’s re-election.

Jones, a state representative from DeKalb County and the former CEO of DeKalb County government, has been one of the most outspoken Black and Democrat supporters of Trump, and appeared to the several dozen rally attendees via Skype.

“I am a Democrat. I am Black. But I am not voting for Joe Biden,” he said. “I am voting for Donald Trump.”

Jones, who has represented Lithonia in the state House of Representatives since 2017, said the Democratic Party isn’t the “big tent” party it claims to be. 

“But if you’re Black and you’re independent and you have conservative leanings, they don’t have room for you,” he said. “That’s the bigotry in the Democratic Party. They want you to be a victim. They want you to be taken care of. When a Black man like me or a Black woman like Dr. Alveda King speaks with a different tone, we are called sellouts. We are called Uncle Toms. 

“Well, let me be clear. I am not a sellout. I am not Uncle Tom. I am not going to vote for Joe Biden. And I am Black.” 

Jones also said the president is not a racist. 

“I know some racists,” he said. “Donald Trump is no racist. But Donald Trump is a racehorse, and that’s the horse I want to ride in 2020.”

Jones credited President Obama and his administration for stabilizing the economy following the 2008 recession. But the record numbers of the recent economy, prior to the pandemic, were a result of President Trump’s actions, he said.

“When President Donald Trump came into office, he put this economy on steroids,” Jones aid. “Obama nor Joe Biden never met a payroll. President Trump understood what the average man had to deal with in business, working with regulations, meeting a payroll. He understands business. 

“He puts America first, and that’s what I like about this president.”

Jones pointed out that his own grandparents never saw a classroom wall and his parents had a third-grade education. However, he went to college, was named the CEO of one of Georgia’s most populous counties and has traveled the world.  

“That only could have happened to me in America,” he said. “I am not a victim. I was not reared a victim. I was born and reared to work hard and earn what you want and make something of yourself.”

Jones also recalled that he and Alice Johnson — freed under the First Step Act, President Trump’s criminal justice reform initiative — were accosted by Black Lives Matter organization members as they left the White House following President Trump’s renomination acceptance speech.

“About 70 to 80 Black people can be shot over a weekend in Chicago and not a word from Black Lives Matter,” he said. “An 8-year-old baby girl can be shot and killed in Atlanta, Georgia, and Black Lives Matter doesn’t say anything about that Black life.”

What he also likes about the president, Jones said, is he knows where he stands. 

“Democrats can’t win on their track record,” he said. “They can’t win on creating new jobs. They can’t win on investing in new businesses. They can’t win on handling this pandemic. The only way they can win is for these groups to burn down cities, destroy and they won’t condemn it. But they don’t know they’ve got it wrong. 

“President Donald Trump is the last man standing between chaos and community.”

Bonnie Perdue, the wife of U.S. Sen. David Perdue, appeared on behalf of her husband. Sen. Perdue faces a re-election battle against Democrat Jon Ossoff.

“I am delighted to be at a rally called the Freedom Rally, because that’s what this election is all about,” she said. “You and I are fighting for our freedoms against the Democrats’ socialist agenda.”

Bonnie Perdue said her husband voted for tax cuts that led to economic growth and job gains, and he also supported funding to complete the deepening of the Savannah harbor.

“That will be a huge economic boon for Georgia,” she said. 

Bonnie Perdue also said Sen. Perdue has supported essential workers through his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also said her husband has long supported health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, which his opponents have charged he does not.

Bonnie Perdue also called on rally attendees to support President Trump’s bid for a second term.

“If we re-elect President Trump, we’re going to see the same economic boom we saw before the pandemic,” she said.

Bonnie Perdue said Ossoff is hiding his true agenda and instead represents a far-left radical plan to transform the country.

“The contrast in this race could not be more clear,” she said. “(Ossoff) believes in defunding the police, open borders, sanctuary cities in Georgia, closing military bases and the Green New Deal, which will cost thousands of Georgia jobs.”

Dr. Alveda King and Ginger Howard, who is a Republican National Committee woman, also spoke on the book they co-authored, “We Are Not Colorblind.” Dr. King, the niece of late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., recounted how her house was bombed when she was a child in Birmingham, Alabama. 

“We’re one race, one blood,” she said. “God made all people to live together on the face of the earth.”

Howard urged Republicans to continue to fight for President Trump.

“When someone says ‘I didn’t like this tweet or I didn’t like the way he handled that debate,’ I want you to take that off the table about President Trump,” Howard pointed out, “and start saying, ‘I am voting for life, I am voting for religious liberty, I am voting for Israel, I am voting for law and order, I am voting for small businesses.’ 

“Joe Biden has already said he is going to raise taxes,” Howard added. “Joe Biden has never worked for anything other than the government. The only job Joe Biden has ever created is for his son Hunter. President Trump has created jobs. President Trump has stood up for our economy. President Trump has stood up for criminal justice reform.” 

Howard also called on rally attendees and those they speak to in the days to come to look past the language President Trump has been known to use. 

“We are not voting for a preacher and we are not voting for a husband,’ she said. “We are voting for a president.”