Georgia GOP Governor. Brian Kemp describes a possible rematch against Stacey Abrams as ‘a fight to the soul of Georgia, again’
EXCLUSIVE – Republican Governor. Brian Kemp of Georgia claims he will make a clear distinction between himself and Stacey Abrams, the likely 2022 Democratic nominee. He is gearing up for a titanic rematch in Georgia’s key general election battleground state.
Kemp is now facing the wrath Donald Trump. The former president plans to support a Republican primary candidate to replace the governor next. He says he doesn’t take “anything for granted” in a primary election or general election, but promises that “nobody will outwork me.”
Kemp said in his first interview with Fox News since Thursday’s Abrams announcement about his gubernatorial campaign that he had been “gearing up for this for three year.” He described the Abrams-Kemp rematch as “a fight to the soul of the state, again.”
Georgia House Democratic Leader Abrams narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018. She was the first Black woman to be nominated for a gubernatorial position by a major party. Nearly 4 million votes were cast in the Peach State’s gubernatorial election. The voting rights advocate played a key role in helping now- President Biden to become the first Democrat in the state to win a presidential election in almost three decades. He also helped fuel the Democrats’ sweep in Georgia’s Jan. 5, twin Senate runoffs, which gave them the majority.
The governor emphasized the “clear contrast” between Abrams’ leadership and his conservative leadership, calling it “the conservative leadership I’ve provided, keeping out economy open, keeping schools open, keeping churches open, standing by law enforcement.”
Kemp was among the first governors who reopened the state’s borders last year following the outbreak of coronavirus. He also attacked the Biden administration’s track record in office, saying that “nobody loves the federal overreach we’re witnessing and all that is coming along with it.” The disaster at the border has seen inflation rise to its highest level in thirty years. That is the problem that every state of the country has to deal with. The terrible withdrawal in Afghanistan
The governor stated that “I’m running for the record that was on 2018 when I told people my plans, and that’s been done and people can see that record.”
He stated that Georgia would be the “number-one state for business in the United States, growing our economy even during a global pandemic and largest teacher pay increases in state history.” 52 health care bills were passed by him. They dealt with transparency and outdated regulations. The private sector will see a decrease in health insurance costs. However, they also want to make it more accessible to the most vulnerable.
Kemp also promised to display the voting bill that he had signed earlier in the year. Democrats denounced it as a voter suppression measure.
Kemp stated that Georgians support the right to vote, but they also want security. This bill accomplishes both. Kemp highlighted the need for voter identification on absentee ballots and the security of drop boxes. He also stressed the possibility of continuous counting on election night and the ability to allow counties to add days for weekend voting.
Kemp stated that he has been “gearing up politically” in preparation for another difficult election.
“After the last governor’s race and the 2020 results, I am not a fool to the current situation. It’s a tight environment. Just like in Virginia. He said that we have to work very hard.”
Stacey Abrams’ generosity has made me realize that I will need to raise twice as much money in 2019 than I did in 2018. He said that we were outspent by two to one even though I raised record-breaking amounts of money.
Kemp boasted his impressive war chest and said that he had the record-breaking first quarter fundraising for a Republican governor of Texas. We have already broken that record and we are not even at quarter’s end. He also said that “we have been preparing our grassroots campaign.”
Although Abrams won’t likely face serious competition for the Democratic governor’s nomination, Kemp is still Trump’s most hated foe.
Trump has vowed to go back to Georgia to fight against Kemp in retaliation for his ally’s refusal to support the former president’s efforts to reverse the results of the Georgia election last year, when Biden beat Trump by a narrow margin.
Former President is encouraging former Sen. David Perdue to challenge Kemp in a GOP primaries. Perdue was narrowly defeated in January by now-Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Vernon Jones, a former state representative and major Trump supporter who is now a Republican turned Democrat, launched a primary challenge to Kemp earlier this year.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA), however, is backing Kemp. It emphasized that Kemp “has exhibited courage leadership for Georgians over the past four years and guided his state though a turbulent period.”
Trump said that Abrams would be defeated in 2022, hours after she declared her candidacy. He also predicted that Brian Kemp would be defeated, adding that the MAGA base wouldn’t vote for him “after what he did regarding Election Integrity …”.
The Abrams campaign said to Fox News, “We agree with Donald Trump on the following point: Brian Kemp is a terrible governor for the State of Georgia.”
Kemp disagreed and said, “I’ve been hard at work every day to put hardworking Georgians last.” Trump’s base is aware of this. The Kemp base is aware of that. The middle knows that.
He pointed to his accomplishments as an officer and said that he believed that was what the base wanted, regardless of whether it’s a Kemp base or a Trump base. I am focused on the issues that Georgians are concerned about. I cannot control the noise coming from other parts, regardless of who is making them.
Kemp responded to a question about Perdue’s possibility of launching a primary challenge. He stated that he worked very hard for the president. I worked very hard for David Perdue, Sen. Loeffler, and the rest on the Republican ticket down to the local races. To help us in 2020, I participated in over 80 events for the Republican Party as well as Republican candidates across the state. We weren’t successful, despite having a great night with our legislator candidates.
He said that David had told him he would support my campaign to become governor. I will continue doing what I am doing until something else happens. “I can’t control the number of people who are entering the race.”
In apparent mockery of Perdue’s motivation for entering the race, Perdue said that he had been fighting for all these issues and that he would continue to fight. It doesn’t matter if someone else is interested in getting into the fight. You just need to ask them why.