Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was pressed on Sunday by a Fox News host about appearing at a potential rally with Donald Trump in the near future.
Kemp, a Republican, has been at odds with the former president since late 2020, when he opted to certify Georgia's election results after the state went to President Joe Biden, in spite of Trump's repeated false claims that the election had been stolen due to widespread voter fraud. Trump later endorsed former Senator David Perdue as a GOP challenger against Kemp in November's midterm elections, but he was defeated by a decisive margin.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Kemp was asked by host Shannon Bream about reports from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that said Trump might be seeking to hold a rally in the state later this month, asking the governor if he would appear at such an event despite his "frenemy thing" with the ex-president.
"I'm not too worried about what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is speculating on. They've been no friend of mine," Kemp said, brushing aside the question. "I'm focused to speaking [to] hard-working Georgians, making sure that they know I will continue to fight for them every single day."
Among the Georgia races in the upcoming midterm elections, Trump has notably endorsed former NFL player, Herschel Walker, for the U.S. Senate. Walker is facing off against Raphael Warnock, whose victory in a runoff election in January 2021 helped Democrats flip the Senate. Despite Trump's support, Warnock has consistently polled ahead of Walker. According to FiveThirtyEight, Warnock is polling at 47.3 percent while Walker is polling at 45.2 percent as of September 28.
Trump has notably yet to endorse Kemp in the general election for governor. Kemp is facing off against challenger Stacey Abrams, the notable Democrat and lauded voting rights organizer, whom he previously defeated in the 2018 gubernatorial race. Kemp may not ultimately need the former president's support, as polls cited by FiveThirtyEight have consistently put him ahead of Abrams at 50.8 percent compared to her 44.6 percent as of September 28.
The former president has recently held numerous rallies in battleground states to support his endorsed candidates. On Saturday night, he appeared in Warren, Michigan, to support various GOP candidates in the state, including Republican gubernatorial nominee, Tudor Dixon.
According to reports from the event, Trump seemingly spent comparatively little of his hour-long speech discussing his endorsed candidates and more time reiterating ongoing grievances. This included rants against the FBI over the recent search of Mar-a-Lago and the House select committee investigating last year's Capitol riot. Journalist Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press also noted in a series of tweets that rally-goers appeared to be steadily leaving the event as Trump spoke.
Newsweek reached out to Kemp's office for comment.
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
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