money Georgia governor pushes back on Trump attacks
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, on Saturday pushed back on President Donald Trump’s attacks against him after a report detailed a new attempt by Trump to interfere with the state’s election results.
Trump, who has launched sustained attacks against the governor he's referred to as "hapless” after narrowly losing Georgia to President-elect Joe Biden last month, called on Kemp and the state’s Republican secretary of state to implement a signature audit of the results.
"I will easily & quickly win Georgia if Governor @BrianKempGA or the Secretary of State permit a simple signature verification. Has not been done and will show large scale discrepancies,” Trump tweeted. “Why are these two ‘Republicans’ saying no? If we win Georgia, everything else falls in place!”
Kemp responded to Trump’s criticism, disclosing a call he had with the president earlier in the day.
“As I told the President this morning, I’ve publicly called for a signature audit three times (11/20, 11/24, 12/3) to restore confidence in our election process and to ensure that only legal votes are counted in Georgia. #gapol,” Kemp wrote.
Kemp’s tweet comes after the Washington Post detailed a phone call that took place between Trump and Kemp earlier in the day. The report states that Trump pressured the governor into calling a special session of the state legislature to overturn Biden’s win in the state, which Kemp declined to do.
Trump has continued to make false claims that Georgia’s election was rigged as state officials say there’s no evidence to support the president’s claims. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has repeatedly defended the election and insisted that no evidence of systemic problems exist.
Saturday afternoon, Trump took to Twitter to double down on those claims, tweeting, "Between Governor @DougDucey of Arizona and Governor @BrianKempGA of Georgia, the Democrat Party could not be happier. They fight harder against us than do the Radical Left Dems. If they were with us, we would have already won both Arizona and Georgia...
"...We received more LEGAL votes by far," he continued. "All I can do is run, campaign, and be a good (great!) President – it is 100% up to the states to manage the election. Republicans will NEVER forget this."
Trump is set to campaign in Georgia on Saturday evening for Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue ahead of the state’s pair of Senate runoffs in January. Kemp, due to the death of an aide, will not be in attendance.
