Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said he would absolutely back President Donald Trump if he became the GOP nominee for the White House in 2024.
“Absolutely, I will support the nominee,” Kemp told Fox News on March 3. “As I said, again, I worked very hard for the president. I think his ideas … will be part of our party for a long time in the future and Republicans, we need to have a big tent.”
“Republicans, there’s a lot of great ideas out there,” Kemp continued. “We’re not always going to get along. But I think the president deserves a lot of credit and he’s not going away.”
Trump criticized Kemp harshly in the weeks following the general election on Nov. 3 last year. The president went after Kemp due to his apparent lack of cooperation with Trump’s efforts to validate the results of the election in the Peach State.
On Jan. 5, the day before Congress certified the results of the 2020 presidential race, Trump said he would campaign against Kemp in 2022.
“I’ll be here in about a year-and-a-half campaigning against your governor, I guarantee you,” he said at a rally for Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and Republican Senate candidate David Perdue, drawing cheers.
Trump noted how he endorsed Kemp in 2018.
“He was in last place and I endorsed him. He went to first place very, like, immediately and then he won the primary, and then I gave him a couple of rallies, which I don’t like doing for other people,” Trump said.
“I’m going to be here in a year-and-a-half and I’m going to be campaigning against your governor and your crazy secretary of state, and you have great candidates,” Trump added.
Trump again expressed regret over endorsing Kemp in an interview with Newsmax on Sunday.
“In the case of Gov. Kemp, he was in last place or just about in last place. I endorsed him, he ended up winning the election and he certainly was not very effective for the Republican Party, to put it nicely,” Trump said. “So I think that was an endorsement that hurt us. But sometimes that will happen.”
During a much-anticipated speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 28, Trump suggested that he may run again in 2024.
“With your help, we will take back the House. We will win the Senate. And then, a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. And I wonder who that will be? I wonder who that will be? Who, who, who will that be? I wonder,” Trump said.
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
