Exclusive – Republican Governor Brian Kemp has argued that “the road to the White House will go through Georgia.”
And Kemp, a two-term conservative governor of a key southeastern battleground state, emphasized in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital that “there is no way for former President Trump to win or for the Republicans to get to 270 seats without Georgia.”
“Georgia is a state that we can win if we put all the mechanisms in place, and I'm working hard to provide those mechanisms in a variety of ways to increase the Republican vote,” Kemp said in an interview on Tuesday, the eve of Vice President Kamala Harris' two-day visit to Georgia.
“I believe we cannot afford another four years. [President] Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, or Kamala Harris and [Minnesota Gov.] “I think Tim Walz is probably going to be worse than Biden and Harris,” Kemp argued.
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Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp is interviewed by Fox News Digital on June 3, 2024 in Chalmette, Louisiana. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
A few days before the governor's interview, President Trump praised Kemp in a social media post, saying, “Your outreach and support in Georgia. A victory in Georgia is so important to the success of our party and, more importantly, our country.”
“I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of our friends in Georgia to help Make America Great Again!” the Republican presidential candidate added.
When it came to the Georgia governor, Trump's comments marked a significant change in tone.
Two years after losing the 2020 presidential election to President Biden by a narrow margin in Georgia, Trump has attacked Kemp for failing to overturn the state's election results.
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Trump toned down his criticism after Kemp defeated former Sen. David Perdue, a Trump-backed Democrat, in the state's 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary.
But earlier this month, at a rally in Atlanta, just blocks from the Georgia Capitol, Trump launched into a 10-minute tirade against Kemp, blasting the governor not only for failing to overturn the 2020 vote but also for not blocking a county prosecutor from indicting the former president for trying to overturn the election results.
Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, left, greets Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
“He's a bad guy. He's disloyal. And he's just a regular governor,” Trump said. “Little Brian. Little Brian Kemp. He's a bad guy.”
“I don't know exactly what happened leading up to the rally. I've heard different stories and people's accounts of what happened,” Kemp told Fox News.
But, he said, “To me, it was just a small incident in the past.”
And Kemp said Republicans “need to stay focused on the future…. We need to tell people why they should vote for us, what we're going to do to make it better than it is. And I think there are a lot of issues where you can contrast Kamala Harris and her record.”
“To me, that's what we need to focus on, not the turmoil from a couple of weeks ago,” he added.
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Asked about Trump's change of tack last Thursday, Kemp said, “You have to ask him those questions. I've been consistent over the last few years in saying that I will support whoever the nominee is in Georgia. And that's exactly what I'm doing. That's what I've done.”
But Trump's comments came shortly after Kemp appeared on Fox News Channel and reiterated to host Sean Hannity that “we need to send Donald Trump back to the White House.”
Asked Tuesday whether he had been in contact with Trump since last week, Kemp said: “I haven't spoken to him.”
But he said, “I've spoken to a lot of other people and I think we all understand where each other stand and that my position hasn't changed. I've supported him and all of the candidates in Georgia and I still do and will continue to do so through November.”
Republican strategists agree that to take back Georgia, Kemp will need the support of a well-funded and well-run political organization that can mobilize Republican voters to vote.
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“I am working hard to garner Republican votes and ensure we win this state in November,” Kemp said.
But the governor added, “What that looks like and how it proceeds will depend on how things unfold, which states are involved, who moves where and when.”
He added that his “job with the Republican Governors Association includes other responsibilities, traveling around the country to help raise money to win North Carolina and hold New Hampshire, as well as working with the congressional races here.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) joins other Republican governors at a Republican Governors Association press conference at an oil refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana, on June 3, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Kemp also acknowledged that he had sought legal advice from the state attorney general about whether he could remove from the State Election Commission three conservative members of the five-person panel that pushed for and passed a series of controversial new rules that mandate additional requirements for county election officials to certify election results.
“We've asked the attorney general for his opinion on whether this will become a formal complaint and we're waiting to hear back. We're seeking legal advice so I can't really comment too much on it,” Kemp told Fox News.
Trump, who is indicted on election interference charges in Fulton County, Georgia, praised the three who pushed for the new rules, calling them “pit bulls who fight for honesty, transparency and to win.”
But Georgia Democrats have contested the new rules, calling them a “concerted effort to subvert democracy” and saying they could delay the certification of the election and spark major conflict.
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