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- President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed regret for supporting GOP Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a statement that could potentially create major discord just weeks before two critical second-round US Senate elections in the state.
- In a phone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Trump harshly criticized Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger for using Dominion voting machines in the state.
- “The governor did nothing,” Trump said. “I am ashamed to have approved it.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump shed light on Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Sunday, expressing regret for his support for the conservative Republican, a statement that could potentially create major discord just weeks before two critical US Senate second-round elections in the state .
Trump, still abused by President-elect Joe Biden who won Georgia in the November election, has repeatedly blamed the state’s use of the Dominion’s voting system machines for its defeat. Dominion has come under fire from the Tories in the aftermath of the election, with the company forced to push back against denied claims their machines facilitated voting irregularities.
After weeks of public fighting with Georgia GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over election results, Kemp is Trump’s latest target for the Peach State.
In a phone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Trump’s first major TV interview since the election, he denounced unsubstantiated allegations of massive voter fraud and harshly criticized Kemp and Raffensperger for using voting machines Dominion in the State. Days after the election call for Joe Biden, Trump shared a baseless conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems, an election software company used by battlefield states including Michigan and Georgia, as has reported Rachel E. Greenspan of Business Insider. Trump had claimed that Dominion had “DELETED” over one million Trump votes across the United States by transferring votes from Trump to Biden in Pennsylvania and other states.
“Everything has to be approved by the legislature, and judges have made deals, and election officials have made deals like this character in Georgia who is a disaster,” Trump said of Raffensperger.
“The governor did nothing,” he said. “He didn’t do absolutely nothing. I’m ashamed that I approved of it. But I’m watching what’s going on – it’s so terrible.”
—Brendan Keefe (@BrendanKeefe) November 29, 2020
Former Georgia Secretary of State Kemp narrowly defeated former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in the 2018 gubernatorial election. He has been state governor since January 2019.
Republicans, hoping to secure their majority in the U.S. Senate, would like to focus on re-electing Republican Senator David Perdue and electing Senator named Kelly Loeffler to the seat that was vacated by former Senator Johnny Isakson in December 2019. Perdue will face Democrat Jon Ossoff and Loeffler face Democrat Raphael Warnock respectively.
The second round of the elections was called for both races because no candidate obtained a majority of the votes in the general elections in November. Under Georgia state law, a candidate for the Senate must obtain at least 50% of the vote to win an election.
Earlier this month, Perdue and Loeffler both called on Raffensperger to step down, which he rejected.
Republicans would like to avoid any disagreement or disunity between parties that could jeopardize Senate seats.
If Democrats can win both seats, there would be a 50-50 split in the Senate, giving the party a majority with Vice President Kamala Harris having the ability to sever ties.
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