Kemp rules out WH bid, warns his party to move on from 2020

Georgia governor dishes on 2024

Brian Kemp

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday officially took his name out of contention for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, but he offered a stern warning to those looking to flip Georgia back to the Republican column: It’s time to move on from the 2020 election.

The two-term Republican told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that if Donald Trump and his rivals continue rehashing the 2020 election, the party will once again lose Georgia’s electoral votes.

He added that he is “certainly not running,” saying that he has a “great job” right now. He also suggested that a larger field would only further divide the party.

He has so far not endorsed a candidate but said that he would support the Republican nominee — even if it’s Trump.

Tension between Trump and Kemp has been ramping up for years. In 2019, following the resignation of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, Kemp chose to appoint businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to the seat over U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, Trump’s preferred pick for the coveted spot.

In 2020 Trump was highly critical of Kemp’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that he strongly disagreed with the governor’s decision to reopen the state’s economy over warnings from national health officials.

It all came to a head after the 2020 election, when Trump pressured Kemp and other Republican state officials to overturn Joe Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia. Trump then launched an unsuccessful effort to unseat Kemp in the 2022 Republican primary.

Despite all of this, Kemp believes that every Republican running, including Trump, would be a better President than Biden. He also believes that Trump could win Georgia in 2024, but he offered one big caveat.

“I think he (Trump) can because Joe Biden has been such a bad president. His approval ratings are just terrible in the state of Georgia right now. So I think he can,” Kemp told CNN.

“I also think he can lose Georgia if he’s not doing what I said: telling people what he’s for, staying focused on the race, quit looking back at the 2020 election. I mean, for goodness sakes, it was two-and-a-half, three years ago now. The American people want to know: what are you gonna do for me to help me offset the bad policies of Joe Biden?”

He also stressed throughout the interview that Republicans have no path to the White House without Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.

A White House run of his own may now be off the table, but there are still questions about Gov. Kemp’s future plans. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that the governor will be in Washington this week holding meetings with top Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the head of the Senate GOP campaign apparatus. The meetings are sure to fuel talks of a possible Kemp Senate run in 2026, when Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff will be on the ballot.

And even though he is unable to run for re-election as governor due to term limits, his leadership committee is also continuing to raise money. He reported raising more than $5 million through the committee so far this year. The committee’s main focus right now is protecting and expanding Republican majorities in the state legislature. It’s worth keeping in mind that any funds raised through this committee cannot be transferred to a federal campaign account.