Former President Donald Trump is reopening an old feud with Republicans in Georgia.
Just before rallying supporters in Atlanta on Saturday, Trump unleashed a tirade on the state’s popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp, whose vaunted ground game operation Trump may need in November, ripping into him on Truth Social for “fighting Unity and the Republican Party.”
And when Trump took the stage, he went at him even harder.
“He’s a bad guy, he’s a disloyal guy and he’s a very average governor,” Trump told supporters, eliciting boos toward Kemp from the crowd.
The attack — on social media and in person at the Georgia State University Convocation Center — marked an escalation of Trump’s longstanding criticism of Kemp. And it instantly unsettled Georgia Republicans, who warned Trump’s comments threaten his already shaky prospects in the state.
“I’m sitting here scratching my head,” Bobby Saparow, a Republican operative and Brian Kemp’s former campaign manager, told POLITICO. “Attacking the popular governor of a pivotal swing state makes zero sense. If we want to actually unite, ask for the support of the guy who beat your endorsed primary opponent by 52 points and handily defeated Stacey Abrams.”
Or, as Erick Erickson, the Georgia Republican and radio host, told POLITICO: “Over 30,000 people refused to vote for [Trump] in Georgia in 2020 and he lost by about 12,000 votes. All he’s doing is reminding everyone why they don’t like him. And he has no Georgia ground game and will have to rely on Kemp. It’s going to hurt him.”
Many Republicans inside and outside of Georgia still nurse raw feelings about how Trump’s fixation on the 2020 election in the state contributed to a major setback for the party in the 2021 Senate runoffs. Democrats won two Senate seats in Georgia that January, when Trump’s false claims about a stolen election were widely credited with dampening Republican turnout.
And following the rally, some Republicans suggested they wished Trump would stop dredging up the past.
“During the Atlanta rally, President Trump criticized Governor Brian Kemp and revisited the 2020 election results,” said Eric Tanenblatt, the longtime Republican strategist, fundraiser and former chief of staff to Gov. Sonny Perdue who most recently chaired Nikki Haley’s Georgia campaign. “With Georgia being a pivotal state, it’s crucial for the Republican Party to look ahead and avoid dwelling on past elections. To win in the upcoming election, Republicans need to present a united front and prioritize future-focused policies.”
Trump opened his rally in Atlanta — in the same venue where his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, rallied just days ago — by hailing the saying he was “thrilled to be back in the great state of Georgia. I love Georgia.”
In a response to Trump’s post on Truth Social, Kemp said his focus was “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.”
It’s unclear what prompted Trump’s frustration with Kemp, though some Republicans privately speculated it was because Kemp didn’t attend the rally. A person familiar with the event and granted anonymity to speak freely said Kemp was not invited.
“I think the more important point is that you’re trying to unify your party and you personally attack the most popular politician in the state who has said he’s supporting you,” said a GOP operative in Georgia, granted anonymity to speak freely. “It’s batshit crazy.”