Kemp says he’s ‘certainly not running,’ GOP can’t win White House without Georgia

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said Monday that he’s “certainly not running” for the White House next year, but emphasized how crucial his state will be to the eventual GOP nominee. 

“In politics, there’s always doors opening and closing. I got a great job right now. I personally feel like having more people in the race does not help us win and beat Joe Biden,” Kemp told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “So, you know, I’m certainly not running for president. But there’s always doors opening in politics depending on how things play out, and we’ll see what happens.”

As he has done repeatedly in the past, the governor called on current GOP front-runner and former President Trump to “be forward-thinking” and abandon his narrative of false claims surrounding the 2020 election.

“If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November,” Kemp said, later adding, “There is no path for us to win the White House if we can’t win Georgia.”

Kemp and Trump have repeatedly clashed over the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including in the Peach State, where he lost by fewer than 12,000 votes. 

Trump’s push there is currently the subject of a criminal investigation headed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that is expected to see final charging decisions next month.

Kemp said he’s “disappointed that it’s taken this long.”

“People are wondering, like, why has this taking so long?… Why haven’t we had resolution? So, I think I think that just sows distrust in the system, which is unfortunate. That’s not what people should be feeling, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on. So, it is, you know, in my eyes, frustrating but we’ll see what she comes out with at the appropriate time,” he said.

Earlier Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected a Trump attempt to quash the probe in a unanimous decision.

Kemp had refused to go along with Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud, winning such enmity that the former president backed a primary challenger to the governor last year before his eventual reelection. 

“He was mad at me. I was not mad at him. I told him exactly what I could and couldn’t do when it came to the election and I followed the law and the Constitution. And as I’ve said before, that’s a lot bigger than Donald Trump. It’s a lot bigger than me. It’s a lot bigger than the Republican Party,” Kemp said Monday.

“But despite all of those things, I believe anybody running for president right now as a Republican, that would be better than what we’re seeing with the Biden-Harris administration.”

He said he would “certainly” back the eventual GOP nominee, even if it’s Trump. 

Collins pressed Kemp on if Trump can win Georgia after Biden flipped the state blue for the first time since 1992.

“I think he can because Joe Biden has been such a bad president. His approval ratings are just terrible in the state of Georgia right now. So I think he can,” he said. “I also think he can lose Georgia if he’s not doing what I said: telling people what he’s for, staying focused on the race, quit looking back at the 2020 election. I mean, for goodness sakes, it was two-and-a-half, three years ago now. The American people want to know: What are you gonna do for me to help me offset the bad policies of Joe Biden?”