Clay Fuller makes fun of liberals on X, specifically New York City’s newly sworn-in mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
“Mayor Beta can’t register 135lbs on the bench press and needs collectivism to get it off his chest,” Fuller wrote Jan. 5 above a video of Mamdani.
Fuller’s post was in reference to a video of Mamdani lifting a barbell with the help of two others during an event.
On Jan. 7, Fuller posted a video at 6 a.m. benching around 215 pounds.
“Is your candidate up working?” the video said. “Save America, Bench More Than Socialists.”
“No better metaphor for the failures of the left than a person who can’t get a weight off their chest and needs other people to help them,” Fuller said during an interview at the Starbucks at Rock City on Lookout Mountain. “I see the embodiment of the left as this weak beta person who just needs society to lift them up.”
Fuller played college basketball, with biceps that still pop out of his polos, and measures 6-foot-5, according to the Emory University Athletics website. He can bench 240 pounds at the age of 44, his benchmark during his college athlete days. He is also the district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, which covers Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties.
And he’s running for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s congressional seat in the March 10 special election for District 14.
Fuller called himself the Dollar General version of Vice President J.D. Vance, due to them both being veterans and their passion for combating the opioid crisis in America.
(SIGN UP: Get the weekly politics newsletter, “Open Door,” in your email box by going to timesfreepress.com/opendoor)
‘MAN IN A HURRY’
After finishing law school in 2009, Fuller joined the Air Force as a military lawyer. He was inspired to serve after the Sept. 11 terror attacks during his time studying at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He later transferred to Emory University in pursuit of a more focused prelaw track rather than the Bachelor of Science the academy required its students to complete.
A routine doctor’s appointment in January 2013 led to him being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, a shock for a man with a 2-year-old daughter at home. It was an event that critically shaped him, Fuller said.
A month later, he went through a 13-hour surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Fuller was hospitalized for two weeks following the surgery.
He did push-ups in the intensive care unit with drains coming out of his neck so he could prove to the staff he was healthy enough to be released.
“I’m a man in a hurry,” Fuller said. “That cancer experience put me in that mode.”
One year later, in 2014, Fuller made the move back to his native Georgia to fight crime and the opioid crisis as a state prosecutor.
“I told my wife,” Fuller said, “if you’re OK with this, I think I’m going to return to North Georgia and start to work on those problems.”
Originally from Northeast Georgia, Fuller said he chose a less rural place to live when deciding on Northwest Georgia, specifically Lookout Mountain, where he resides. He took a job as a prosecutor at the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit in 2014.
He was promoted to district attorney in 2023, appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp at the same time Chris Arnt, Fuller’s predecessor as district attorney, was appointed to be a judge in the same circuit. During his tenure as district attorney, Fuller’s office has issued aggressive press releases about being hard on crime.
Many of the press releases include a quote attributed to Fuller referencing other counties or circuits being soft on crime or letting criminals get away with weak plea deals, while adding that won’t happen in Northwest Georgia.
“Maybe in Washington, D.C., juries let felons walk for throwing objects at law enforcement. But we don’t do that here in Northwest Georgia,” Fuller wrote in a release in October 2025 about an Alabama man who came into Dade County with stolen property and was also found guilty of aggravated assault. “You attack our officers, we’re coming after you. Now this piece of Alabama Crimeson Trash is headed to prison for a long time. In Northwest Georgia, we don’t play.”
Fuller will have to resign from his role as district attorney after paying the qualifying fee for the special election. Candidates can qualify Monday through Wednesday of this week.
(READ MORE: Video footage of November Hamilton Place mall shooting shown in court)
FIRST RUN
As a White House fellow from 2018-2019, a program that gives a select few the chance to work at the highest level of the federal government, according to the program’s website, Fuller worked with former Vice President Mike Pence on messaging around the opioid crisis. He later worked in the Pentagon, focusing on special operations and counterterrorism, traveling around the world for this work.
Being a White House fellow was a bucket list item, Fuller said, and a valuable experience he was able to apply to his work at the District Attorney’s Office when he returned to Northwest Georgia, and his first run for Congress.
“So many of the things that I’m trying to fix,” Fuller said, “are things at the federal level that I can’t impact as a district attorney for a four-county circuit.”
Fuller ran for Congress for the first time in 2020. It was the same year Greene sought office, too. He placed fourth in the primary, receiving 6.8% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia. Greene had already made a name for herself on social media prior to the elections. She won 40.3% of the vote in that same primary and went on to win the general election with 74.7% of the vote.
During his campaign in 2020, Fuller was called up by the Air National Guard, having joined in 2015. He was unable to talk with his campaign team or meet with constituents in accordance with the Hatch Act, which limits political activity by members of the armed forces and executive branch employees.
This year, he’ll try again.
WORLDVIEW
Discussing at length his perspective on international and domestic issues, Fuller reinforced his desire to be tough on crime at the federal and international levels.
Fuller said he supports President Donald Trump’s decision to capture Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro because there is nothing more “America first” than stopping bad actors who are funneling drugs into the country, Fuller said.
“I don’t know how to put it any other way,” Fuller said about drugs like fentanyl and cocaine entering the country. “If you’re doing that to Americans, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
Maduro was indicted by federal prosecutors for cocaine smuggling into the United States, though studies by the United Nations show that most cocaine seized entering the United States comes from drug routes in the Pacific, and that most cocaine that does go through Venezuela ends up in Europe.
(READ MORE: Wamp cancels plans for Enterprise South Nature Park)
Fuller also spoke at length on America’s need to combat Chinese influence for fear of the world falling into the Chinese totalitarian control. The U.S. is the only country capable of leading the free world, Fuller said. No one is going to stop China unless the U.S. takes control of the hemisphere, he said.
“We want everyone to experience what we have in this country,” Fuller said.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District includes the counties of Catoosa, Walker, Whitfield, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Murray, Paulding, Polk and part of Cobb.
Contact Northwest Georgia reporter Ignacio Perez at [email protected] or 423-757-6710.
Read more on timesfreepress.com
