BY: Walker
Published 3 years ago
The relationships between former President Donald Trump and several Georgia officials, including Governor Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have soured.
via: New York Post
Former President Donald Trump lashed out at Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Saturday, suggesting at a rally that Democrat Stacey Abrams “might be better” to head the Peach State.
“Stacey — would you like to take his place? It’s OK with me,” Trump told supporters of at the Georgia State Fairgrounds in Kemp.
“We don’t want her!” someone yelled from the crowd.
Trump later took another dig at Kemp, a Republican he once supported.
“Of course having her I think might be better than having your existing governor if you want to know the truth,” Trump said. “Might very well be better.”
“This guy is a disaster,” he said of Kemp at another point.
Kemp has been a target of the ex-president since Trump lost Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. Trump lost the state by just 0.23 percent, or 11,779 votes.
Trump continued his attacks on the governor, claiming “I made the mistake” of endorsing Kemp for his election bid against Abrams in 2018.
Kemp won that election 50.2 percent to Abrams’ 48.8 percent, after Trump held two rallies backing the candidate leading up to the election.
But weeks Trump’s loss, he ripped Kemp, saying he was “ashamed” to have endorsed him and that he’s “done absolutely nothing” to advance Trump’s claim of election fraud in the state.
Kemp would not call a special session to overturn Georgia’s election results.
Trump recalled on Saturday night pressuring the governor to force a recount by urging the state Legislature to overturn the results.
“I said Brian you know you have a big election integrity problem in Georgia,” Trump said. “I hope you can help us out and call a special election and let’s get to the bottom of it for the good of the country, for the good of the state of Georgia.”
Kemp is up for reelection in 2022.
Stacey has not responded to Trump’s remarks publically, but Trump’s stance is contrary to the many members within his party who in February formed a group called “Stop Stacey” — aimed at stopping Abrams from potentially running for governor in 2022.
Mitch McConnell gets booed at the #TrumpRally, Brian Kemp gets even bigger boos. pic.twitter.com/RXhLbSwfdk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021
"Of course, having her I think might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know the truth" — Trump on the relative merits of Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp pic.twitter.com/KrppCdCHAJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021