It’s a surprise around here at LP when we find ourselves amused about a news item involving Brian Kemp. That is, it’s a surprise when we find ourselves amused about something involving Brian Kemp that’s not somehow mocking Brian Kemp.
That’s because Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has orchestrated some of the country’s most blatant voter suppression actions over the past half-decade, including openly abusing his power as then-Secretary of State to tilt the 2018 governor’s election in his favor.
But he’s also the sworn enemy of Donald J. Trump, and the enemy of our enemy being our friend, we couldn’t help but chortle when former VP Mike Pence gave a stump speech on Kemp’s behalf at a GA campaign rally Monday. At it, Pence stated plainly, again, that voters should move on from questioning the 2020 election—a clear jab at the former President.
Kemp has been polling as many as 32 points ahead of his Trump-endorsed challenger, former US Senator David Perdue, in the runup to Tuesday’s primary. And Trump’s Perdue endorsement has been something of a head scratcher, considering how far behind Perdue has consistently polled. But even more than winning, Trump loves revenge. And he blames Kemp, and GA Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger, for not intervening unconstitutionally to overturn President Biden’s win in the state.
So Trump has stuck by Perdue, who, to no effect, has veered hard Trump-Right in his campaign to unseat Kemp. Perdue’s undying devotion to Trump is most public when he hammers Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims at every (and we do me every) opportunity. “First of all, it was stolen,” the formerly mild mannered business-minded conservative claimed at a recent rally, “The facts are coming out.”
Pence Distances Himself From Trump
Not according to Pence. Eyeing a 2024 Presidential run of his own, Pence has been putting distance between himself and the former President since at least January 6th, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters had a fun little riot at the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence!”
Isn’t it strange how a violent mob incited by Trump and chanting for your death can make you finally begin to think you might have picked the wrong team?
While we’ve gotten our laughs out at the proxy in-fighting between Trump and Pence happening in Georgia, one thing remains clear: the best thing for the Peach State and for the country as a whole is for Stacey Abrams to win the general election there in November.