Rift between Kemp, Trump widens after he calls governor ‘disloyal’ at weekend rally
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The frosty relationship between GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, both Republicans, is no secret.
After the votes were counted in 2020 — two years after Trump threw his high-powered endorsement behind Kemp for governor — Trump claimed Kemp’s state was rife with election fraud. He demanded Kemp hold a special legislative session to investigate, which Kemp refused to do.
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Since then, the relationship between the highest-ranking Republican in Georgia and the highest-ranking Republican period has shifted.
“You know, the former president’s been mad at me at times, I’m not mad at him,” Kemp told Atlanta News First at June’s presidential debate in Atlanta between Trump and President Joe Biden.
But the tiff got kicked up a notch on Saturday after Trump railed against Kemp at a rally in downtown Atlanta.
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“He is the most disloyal guy I think I’ve ever seen,” Trump said of Kemp. “Somewhere he went mad, and you know what? Your numbers in Georgia are very average. Your crime numbers, your economic numbers, all of your numbers, you’re very average. You can do a lot better, and you’ll do a lot better with a better governor.”
In reality, Kemp enjoys high approval ratings consistently in the 60% range. Strategists like Brian Robinson said Trump needs to be careful of alienating the Georgia voters who think Kemp is doing a good job.
“It doesn’t make sense to go after Brian Kemp,” he said. “Gov. Kemp is not just the state’s top elected official, he’s the most popular elected official in the state of Georgia.”
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Kemp also wields a vast amount of influence behind the scenes through relationships with GOP officials on the ground in Georgia, organizers, and a large war chest Trump could theoretically tap in order to help him win the swing state of Georgia.
Robinson said the GOP needs to unify and solve issues between the state and national party. Georgia is a must-win state in November and a new CBS poll showed the matchup between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a nearly dead heat this week.
“Splitting our coalition is destructive, the strategy requires unity,” Robinson said. “And this is for (Trump’s) own good. This is for his own good. If he unifies the party, he can go back to the White House.”
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