Donald Trump called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) — who he has been blasting on social media — on Saturday morning to urge him to persuade the state legislature to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state, the Washington Post reports. Trump reportedly asked the Republican governor to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures. And this is kind of weird since he recently referred to Kemp as a “nut job” and a “moron” on a phone call with aides. Trump has also said that he’s “ashamed” that he endorsed him.
But now, Trump wants Kemp’s help in overturning the election he clearly lost to President-elect Joe Biden. Trump made the call just hours ahead of his planned trip to Georgia to campaign for two Republican senators one month ahead of a critical runoff that will determine which party controls the Senate. And Republicans are concerned over Trump’s attacks on members of their party just before his rally.
But, I suspect those attacks will worsen since Kemp declined to help Trump with his attempted coup.
“Hours before he was scheduled to hold a rally in Georgia on behalf of the state’s two GOP senators, Trump pressed Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature to get lawmakers to override the results and appoint electors that would back him, according to a person familiar with the conversation,” the Post reports. “He also asked the governor to demand an audit of signatures on mail ballots, something Kemp has previously noted he has no power to do.”
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“Kemp declined the entreaty from Trump, according to the person,” the Post writes. “The governor later referenced his conversation with Trump in a midday tweet, noting that he told the president that he’d already publicly advocated for a signature audit.”
“The latest example of Trump’s extraordinary personal effort to overturn Biden’s win comes as his legal team has met with resounding failure in its attempts to use the courts to upend the election,” the report states. “On Friday, the president and his allies suffered legal defeats in six states.”
So, Trump will likely attack the Governor that supported him for years because he refuses to abuse the power of his office. This is so on-brand for Trump.
Featured image via White House/Flickr
