Trump: ‘I’m ashamed that I endorsed’ Kemp in Georgia

President Trump on Sunday said he regretted endorsing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), taking a swipe at the top Republicans in the state ahead of two critical Senate runoff elections.

The president decried the use of Dominion Voting Systems machines in Georgia, which are the subject of unproven conspiracies among some conservatives. He placed blame at the feet of Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) for approving the rules of the election. 

“Everything has to be approved by the legislature, and they had judges making deals, and they had electoral officials making deals like this character in Georgia who’s a disaster,” Trump said of Raffensperger, who has defended the integrity of the presidential election in Georgia, where President-elect Joe Biden defeated Trump by just more than 12,000 votes.

“And the governor’s done nothing. He’s done absolutely nothing,” Trump added of Kemp. “I’m ashamed that I endorsed him. But I look what’s going on. It’s so terrible.”

The president, in his first television interview since Election Day, revived numerous baseless claims of voter fraud that he alleged cost him the election to Biden.

Trump, in a phone interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo, questioned whether the outcome of the upcoming Senate races could be trusted.

Trump’s rhetoric has raised alarm among some in the GOP who worry that the president will discourage his supporters from voting in the Senate races in January.

Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) are facing Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively. Both Perdue and Loeffler have called for Raffensperger to step down.

Georgia certified Biden as the winner of the state last week. Kemp signed off on it, saying that it would allow Trump to proceed with any legal challenges. The president’s legal team has thus far failed to produce evidence of widespread fraud.