Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s (R) campaign is reportedly looking to smooth things over with former President Trump ahead of the gubernatorial election in November, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Tuesday. Kemp easily triumphed last week over primary challenger and Trump endorsee David Perdue.
A diplomatic mission spearheaded by Kemp’s allies is reportedly in the works in the hope that the former president won’t cause a fuss heading into Kemp’s challenge against Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams in November, the newspaper reported on Tuesday. Kemp’s team is reportedly expecting Trump to return to the battleground state to stump for his endorsees Hershel Walker and Burt Jones, who won GOP primaries for the Senate and lieutenant governor, respectively.
It seems, however, that the former president might not yet be ready to mend fences. In a statement issued Tuesday morning through his Save America PAC, Trump blasted out a link to an article that baselessly speculated about whether voter fraud handed Kemp a 50-point victory in the Georgia GOP primary.
Kemp became one of Trump’s punching bags last year after he refused to go along with Trump’s bogus claims of a “stolen” election. The former president painted Kemp as having caved to Democrats when he refused to overturn Georgia’s election results.
Although few of Kemp’s allies expect the former president to come around to endorsing the governor, they hope to fend off the type of attacks Trump waged at Kemp last year, according to AJC. A longtime Perdue aide who is trusted in Trumpworld is reportedly a key figure in the attempted truce.
The former president is angry that his revenge crusade in Georgia fell flat, according to the Washington Post, which cited advisers to the former president. Trump is also reportedly outraged at the victory of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who infamously rejected Trump’s demand that he somehow “find” the votes needed to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state — over Trump endorsee Jody Hice.
Trump reportedly viewed both of his defeated endorsees as embarrassments and saw Perdue as “lazy,” advisers who spoke with the Post said.
