Just before rally in Atlanta, Trump attacks Governor Kemp on Truth Social
Hours before taking the stage at an Atlanta rally on Saturday, Trump reignited his feud with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on his social media platform Truth Social, seemingly unprompted.
“Brian Kemp should focus his efforts on fighting Crime, not fighting Unity and the Republican Party! His Crime Rate in Georgia is terrible, his Crime Rate in Atlanta is the worst, and his Economy is average.”
The governor fired back on X, formerly Twitter, calling Trump’s comments “petty personal insults.”
“My focus is on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats - not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past,” Kemp posted. “You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it.”
My focus is on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats - not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past.
You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it. pic.twitter.com/m8y6CSuZKY— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) August 3, 2024
The social media posts are the latest in a years-long spat between Trump and the Georgia governor. Despite maintaining his popularity across the state, Kemp has been the target of Trump’s disdain since the 2020 presidential election, when he refused to partake in Trump’s alleged scheme to overturn the election results.
The former president lost the Peach State by roughly 12,000 votes in 2020, a margin of 0.23%. At his rally, Trump emphasized the importance of winning Georgia in the 2024 election to thousands of voters at his rally, stressing, “If we lose Georgia, we lose the whole thing, and our country goes to hell.”
In the same breath, he echoed the social media insults against Kemp: “He’s a bad guy. He’s a disloyal guy, and he’s a very average governor.” Trump’s comments sparked boos directed toward the governor across the packed arena’s 8,000 attendees.
He argued that Georgia had fallen behind in the last five years under “Little Brian Kemp” and his administration. “The state has gone to hell,” Trump said.
Trump continued his tirade against the state’s Republican leadership, dragging out another familiar adversary: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
“In my opinion, they want us to lose,” Trump said of the pair at the rally. Without evidence, he accused Raffensperger and Kemp of orchestrating an effort to sway the election in favor of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
He went on to falsely claim, “I won this state twice,” referring to the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Georgia will likely be another highly contested race this year, as Trump’s lead in the state has continued to slip since Harris entered the race. Based on the latest polling data from FiveThirtyEight on Monday, Harris trailed Trump by a single percentage point, 44.9% to Trump’s 45.9%.
There are two votes Trump already knows he won’t be able to count on—Kemp and his wife, Marty.
Kemp revealed that he did not vote for Trump in the Georgia primary. WABE also reported that Marty plans to “write Brian Kemp’s name in” for the ballot in November. “He’d make a darn good president,” Marty said of her husband.
Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump attacks Kemp, reigniting old feud with Georgia governor
