Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said he would back Donald Trump if he wins the GOP nomination ahead of the 2024 presidential election, despite their ongoing feud, saying that the former president “would still be a lot better than Biden.”
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published on Saturday, Kemp discussed various political agendas, including the possible government shutdown, immigration and his thoughts on Trump going into the 2024 elections. Kemp and Trump have both been critical towards one another most notably due to Kemp refusing to overturn the results of Georgia’s votes in the 2020 presidential election and him testifying under subpoena in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation, which ultimately led a grand jury to hand down criminal charges against Trump and 18 other co-defendants. Trump, meanwhile, has plead not guilty in the case.
While this all led to Trump endorsing former Senator David Perdue in last year’s gubernatorial election, along with continuous tensions among the two over other political agendas, Kemp is still willing to back Trump against President Joe Biden in 2024 if the two are the nominees.
“Despite all of that, despite all of his other trials and tribulations, he would still be a lot better than Biden. And the people serving in the administration would be a lot better than Joe Biden. And it has nothing to do with being a coward. It has everything to do with winning and reversing the ridiculous, obscene positions of Joe Biden and this administration that literally, in a lot of ways, are destroying our country,” Kemp told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Elijah Nouvelage, James Devaney/GC Images/Getty
In response to the governor saying he would back Trump against Biden, many took to X, formerly Twitter, to condemn Kemp for his comment.
“Kemp is willing to destroy our country by backing dangerous Trump! Why?” X user Nila Vehar asked in a post.
“Brian Kemp is a real profile in cowardice and hypocrisy. No matter if Donald Trump is the GOP presidential nominee I wouldn’t support someone who tried to overthrow the government to stay in power and stole classified documents…Shame on you,” Island Girl wrote on X.
While one X user came to Kemp’s defense by stating that his decision was a lesser of two evils.
“At the end of the day you have to go with the lesser of two evils. That’s why even though I support DeSantis I’ll vote for Trump if he’s the nominee,” user Howard wrote.
In his interview with the newspaper, Kemp said he believes Trump can win Georgia in the upcoming election. However, he also criticized Trump’s previous antics of continuously claiming that 2020 election was stolen from him.
“But I also think he stands a very good chance of losing if he continues to talk about the stolen 2020 election. If he continues, like he’s done in the past, to attack other good Republicans who don’t agree with him 100 percent of the time, there’s a good chance he can lose the election,” Kemp said.
Newsweek has reached out to Kemp and Trump via email for comment.