‘I know how to fight’: Georgia state rep leaves Democratic Party

In the wake of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff races in Georgia, it appears that the Democratic Party succeeded in picking up two critical seats with victories by challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock over GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

The Republican Party nevertheless scored one notable victory with an announcement from state Rep. Vernon Jones that he would be switching parties.

“Now more than ever”

As the former Democrat explained in a statement earlier this week, he recently confirmed that he would henceforth be a member of the GOP.

“Now more than ever, the Republican Party is in desperate need of leaders that know how to fight,” he said. “I know how to fight.”

His statement came in the form of a tweet on Wednesday morning but it was not the first indication of his shifting partisan loyalties.

Jones had been invited to speak at last year’s Republican National Convention, where he laid out his case for supporting Republican President Donald Trump.

“As you can see, I’m a man of color, and I’m a life-long Democrat, too,” he said at the time. “You may be wondering why is a life-long Democrat speaking at the Republican National Convention.”

“Decades and generations”

As part of his explanation, he asserted that the “Democratic Party does not want black people to leave their mental plantation” where he claimed they had been “forced” to reside for “decades and generations.”

At a subsequent political event, the then-Democrat offered a fiery rebuke of modern leftism and its embrace of so-called cancel culture.

“I love this country, but this is one time you can say I’m an angry Black man,” he declared. “I am an angry Black man tonight.”

Jones went on to accuse Democrats of taking away “our traditional family values” while limiting the ability of Americans to engage in free speech.

Offering a final assessment of his soon-to-be former party, he declared: “I can’t work because I’m afraid of being fired because I say I’m a Trump supporter. I can’t do a damn thing because the left want to take your livelihood away from you.”

The post 'I know how to fight': Georgia state rep leaves Democratic Party first appeared on Conservative Institute.