President Donald Trump slammed the Republican governor of Georgia in an interview on Sunday, saying he was “ashamed” to have endorsed him.
The moment: Speaking to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump reiterated his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and faulted state and federal officials for failing to uncover the unproven conspiracy.
Trump at one point voiced displeasure that Gov. Brian Kemp has not retroactively required signature-matching between envelopes and ballots.
- “They had judges making deals and they had electoral officials making deals like this character in Georgia who’s a disaster, and the governor’s done nothing. He’s done absolutely nothing. I’m ashamed that I endorsed him,” Trump said, referring to his support for Kemp’s 2018 election.
- “You would think if you’re in the FBI or Department of Justice, this is the biggest thing you could be looking at. Where are they?” he said. “I’ve not seen anything.”
Following a full hand recount, Kemp on Nov. 20 certified Georgia’s election results, which narrowly favored Democrat Joe Biden.
In a pair of tweets on Monday, Trump again called for Kemp to “override” Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and impose signature-matching.
State of play: The Trump camp has criticized Kemp as part of a larger fight to overturn the election results in Georgia and several other swing states.
- Sidney Powell, a former Trump campaign lawyer, last week filed a lawsuit against the state of Georgia seeking to decertify the results and declare the president the winner based on her theory that Dominion voting machines “flipped” votes to Biden.
- A district judge on Sunday night blocked three Georgia counties from altering or erasing data on Dominion voting machines after Republican nominees to the Electoral College filed an emergency motion.
Meanwhile, recounts Trump paid for in two Wisconsin counties slightly increased Biden’s narrow margin of victory in the state, which is expected to certify the vote by the Tuesday deadline; legal challenges to overturn reported results in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania have failed.
Trump has campaigned vocally for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, but some Republican insiders are reportedly concerned his feud with Kemp and the state party will depress voter turnout.
