In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, President Donald Trump took aim at Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, The Hill reported.
Speaking with anchor Maria Bartiromo, Trump slammed Peach State Republicans and floated several unproven theories about the 2020 presidential election, which he claims was rigged for Democrat Joe Biden.
“Everything has to be approved by the legislature, and they had judges making deals, and they had electoral officials making deals like this character in Georgia who’s a disaster,” the president said of Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, decrying the use of Dominion Voting Systems machines.
Trump then ripped into Kemp, saying that he regrets supporting him.
“And the governor’s done nothing. He’s done absolutely nothing. I’m ashamed that I endorsed him. But I look what’s going on. It’s so terrible.”
As The Washington Post reported, Kemp certified Biden’s victory last week. He did so following a thorough recount of votes, which effectively repudiated Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
In a statement, Kemp stressed that Trump has every right to pursue legal challenges but pointed out that he had to certify the results.
“As governor, I have a solemn responsibility to follow the law, and that is what I will continue to do,” he said at the time, noting that “the vast majority of local election workers did their job well under unprecedented circumstances.”
Since then, Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Kemp and Raffensperger, implicating them in his theories about electoral fraud.
As The Hill noted, this has raised alarm in conservative circles and some fear that the commander in chief could inadvertently depress turnout and harm the GOP’s chances of wining the two Senate runoff elections, which will take place in January.
Incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler — who are competing against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — have had to walk a fine line between endorsing Trump’s claims and convincing his supporters that their votes matter. They have not attacked Kemp, but both have urged Raffensperger to step down.
There are some signs that the conservative base is not enthusiastic about supporting Perdue and Loeffler.
On Saturday, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel hit the campaign trail to express support for the two candidates, but she struggled to convince the audience in Marietta to show up to the polls.
She pleaded with voters in the Peach State to “focus on the mission at hand,” saying that “we can deal with those other things later.” Notably, McDaniel contradicted Trump and said that there is no evidence the voting machines flipped votes and helped Biden win the presidential race.