Former President Donald J. Trump is taking out his frustrations as current and former governors from across the country continue to support Gov. Brian Kemp (R), a political enemy of the former president, for re-election in Georgia.
“Today, the worst ‘election integrity’ governor in the country, Brian Kemp, loaded the great state of Georgia up with RINOs. That’s right, he had them all,” Trump said in a Wednesday statement. “Chris Christie, Doug Ducey from Arizona, and Pete Ricketts from Nebraska. That tells you all you need to know about what you are getting in Georgia – just a continuation of bad elections and a real RINO if you vote for Brian Kemp.”
Christie is the former governor of New Jersey and was a presidential candidate in 2016.
He fired back on social media.
“Insightful commentary about three Republican Governors who were overwhelmingly re-elected by their people from a former President who lost to Joe Biden,” he said. “Maybe the ‘R’ in RINO really stands for re-elected.”
Insightful commentary about three Republican Governors who were overwhelmingly re-elected by their people from a former President who lost to Joe Biden. Maybe the “R” in RINO really stands for re-elected. Proud to stand with @DougDucey @GovRicketts supporting @BrianKempGA
— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) May 11, 2022
Ducey is not running for re-election this year.
With the statement, Trump continues his longstanding beef with Kemp, whom he says did not do enough to challenge the results of the 2020 election, which the former president says was stolen. Trump lost in both Georgia and Arizona by slim margins.
In December, Trump endorsed former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) for governor in an attempt to sway voters away from Kemp.
“[Kemp] can’t win because the MAGA base — which is enormous — will never vote for him,” Trump said at the time. “David Perdue will eliminate the Income Tax, secure the Elections, defend the Second Amendment, support our great Farmers, get crime in Atlanta and other places under control, take care of our great Vets, and put parents back in charge of the schools.”
Perdue narrowly lost his re-election bid to the U.S. Senate to Sen. John Ossoff (D-GA) in a runoff election in January.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Brian Kemp” by Brian Kemp. Background Photo “Georgia Capitol” by Ken Lund. CC BY-SA 2.0.
