Republican Georgian Governor Brian Kemp said he would "absolutely" support Donald Trump as a possible 2024 presidential nominee during an interview with Fox News' Neil Cavuto.
Kemp's allegiance to Trump left viewers confused since the former President has repeatedly disgraced the Governor for refusing to support his claims of a stolen election and also has referred to him as a "nut job" and a "moron."
In the Fox News interview, Cavuto had asked Kemp:
"Real quickly, Donald Trump as the '24 nominee for Republicans, would you support him?"
Without hesitation, Kemp said "absolutely."
"I'm going to support the nominee. 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."
You can watch the interview, below.
Trump openly called for the Georgia Governor's resignation in December when then-presidential candidate Joe Biden won Georgia in the 2020 election and called Kemp an "obstructionist" for refusing to uphold Trump's unsubstantiated claim that Biden's Georgia victory was somehow invalid.
Yet, in the Fox interview, the Republican politician stated:
"I mean, there's a lot of great ideas out there. We're not always going to get along, but I think the president deserves a lot of credit. And he's not going away."
Lawmakers tried to prevent Trump from running in future elections by convicting him for inciting the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, but he was acquitted in February's Senate impeachment trial.
Presumably, there are not enough Republicans on board who would support Senator Tim Kaine's proposed measure that could bar Trump from holding federal office in the future.
Kemp's Fox News appearance came three days after Trump's speech at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) where he declared he would resume with plans to run for the 2024 presidential reelection.
In an interview that took place backstage at CPAC in Orlando, Florida, the twice-impeached former President told Newsmax TV's Mark Halperin that Kemp's actions after the 2020 election were "sad" – referring to his criticism of the Governor for doing "absolutely nothing" to overturn Biden's victory that Trump falsely continues to claim was the result of a stolen election.
Said Trump:
"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."
"So I think that was an endorsement that hurt us but sometimes that will happen. You can't pick 100% of the winners."
He added Kemp's performance was "sad" because of "what he did for the Republican Party and to the state of Georgia, which is a great state."
Kemp's one-eighty endorsement of Trump came after Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also announced he would "absolutely" back Trump as a possible 2024 presidential candidate.
McConnell had denounced Trump as being "practically and morally responsible" for inciting the Capitol insurrection but then voted to acquit him at his Senate impeachment trial, weeks later.
Twitter did not hold back when calling out ambivalent Republicans.
Kemp was formerly Georgia's Secretary of State and has served as the state's governor since January 2019.
Trump said of Kemp in a phone interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, "I'm ashamed that I endorsed him," after the Governor certified Biden's win in Georgia.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram