'Sour grapes': Brian Kemp urges RNC to move on from 'unproven claims of election fraud'
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp admonished fellow Republicans Saturday to move on from the 2020 election, signaling his opposition to selecting former President Donald Trump as 2024 GOP nominee, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
During a Republican National Committee meeting speech in Nashville, the former Trump ally declared "2020 is ancient history" for "voters trying to pay their rent, make their car payment or put their kids through college," emphasizing "not a single swing voter in a single swing state will vote for our nominee if they choose to talk about the election being stolen."
Per The AJC, the GOP leader said, "Republican candidates who talked about 'more freedom, better schools, lower taxes, less government and safer streets' had winning messages," but "in the other places where the Democrats pulled out unexpected wins, in my opinion, Republicans got distracted."
READ MORE: 'Not my favorite': Donald Trump admits losing the 2020 election in enraged post-arraignment speech
CNN reports:
Tension between Trump and Kemp has been simmering for years. When Kemp refused to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 win in Georgia, Trump made the governor his No. 1 enemy, publicly railing against him throughout 2021 and recruiting former US Sen. David Perdue to challenge Kemp in a GOP primary. Through it all, Trump failed to draw Kemp into a fight, and the governor won his 2022 primary overwhelmingly before handily defeating Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams in the November general election.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office continues to investigate Trump's efforts to overturn the election, while he simultaneously faces 34 criminal charges in Manhattan for making hush money payments to adult film star, Stormy Daniels.
Regarding the former president's claims of election fraud in the state, Kemp told the RNC audience "voters want to know the GOP's vision for the future and 'couldn't care less about anyone's sour grapes."
The governor emphasized, "We lost winnable races in swing districts and states that will be crucial to our success next year if we want to win back the White House,” noting "electoral backlash went beyond infighting over 'unproven claims of election fraud' or frustration with the establishment."
The AJC reports:
Despite Trump's humbling defeats in Georgia – his handpicked candidates lost almost every high-profile midterm race – the former president could enter the 2024 primary as the heavy favorite among many of the state's GOP voters.
The 2024 hopeful is also expected to speak at the RNC meeting Saturday.
"Being distracted by what is happening at the Manhattan and Fulton County district attorney offices is not going to win us back the White House in 2024," Kemp said. "The media and Democrats would love nothing more than for us to talk about this from sun-up to sundown until next November."
The Atlanta Journal Constitution's full report is available at this link. CNN's report is here.
