KENNESAW, Ga., May 23 (Reuters) – Former Vice President Mike Pence campaigned for one of his former boss’s nemeses on Monday night in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary, urging voters not to dwell on the past .
Before Tuesday’s vote, Pence did not directly criticize former President Donald Trump in a speech on behalf of incumbent Brian Kemp or name David Perdue, the former senator whom Trump has endorsed in the race.
“Elections are about the future. There are those who want to make this election about the past,” Pence said, speaking in an airport hangar to a crowd of several dozen. “When you say yes to Governor Brian Kemp tomorrow, you will send a deafening message to the entire United States that the Republican Party is the party of the future.”
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Kemp did not comply with Trump’s demand to overturn the results of the 2020 Georgia presidential election, which now showed President Joe Biden narrowly winning the state. Kemp’s defiance has made him the target of Trump’s attacks.
Trump’s endorsement of Perdue is one of the most high-profile and risky of his more than 190 endorsements before the Nov. 8 election. Opinion polls have shown Kemp far ahead of Perdue.
Trump has sought to flex his power as a political kingmaker as Republicans pick their candidates for the November election that will determine control of Congress and some state chambers.
“We are in a fight for the soul of our state. We can’t take tomorrow for granted,” Kemp said Monday. He touted his end to business closures during the coronavirus pandemic and his support for restrictive election laws and restrictions on abortion access.
Pence and Kemp praised the policies of the Trump administration and attacked Democrat Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist and former minority leader in the state House of Representatives, who is expected to face Kemp in a rematch of the election. of 2018.
“Brian Kemp beat Stacey Abrams four years ago, and with your support, Brian Kemp will do it all over again,” Pence said to cheers.
Some Kemp supporters in the crowd saw Pence’s role in the race as good for the GOP.
“Having Pence here is a step in the right direction for the GOP to get off the Trump bandwagon,” said real estate agent Kay Morgan, 64, who voted for Trump twice but was appalled by his bogus election claims. and said he would not support it. him again. “I would like to see Pence run for office.”
Tony Willingham, 54, a project manager at an electric utility company, said he had never supported Trump and was encouraged that Kemp was far ahead in the polls. “We are huge fans of Vice President Pence. We believe in his Christian values and in the wisdom that he receives from God,” Willingham said.
Eric Tanenblatt, a Republican strategist in Georgia, thought the former president had tried to take over the party, but said, “Trump’s style scared away a lot of people. We can get these people back by electing people like Governor Kemp.”
CALL FROM TRUMP
On Monday night, after the Kemp-Pence rally, Trump tried to shore up his candidate, calling a Perdue event.
“David is the only candidate who can beat Stacey Abrams because I don’t think Kemp can. He has too many people in the GOP who will refuse to vote,” Trump said. He did not mention Pence.
Perdue criticized Abrams in interviews that drew attention on social media Monday, after denouncing Georgia’s high rates of incarceration and maternal mortality.
“She’s not from here. Let her go back where she came from if she doesn’t like it here,” he said, later adding, “She’s demeaning her own race.” Abrams, who is black, was born in Wisconsin and moved to Georgia with her family as a child.
In a fiery speech on January 6, 2021, Trump repeated his false claims that his presidential election loss was the result of fraud, a claim that has been rejected by multiple courts, state election officials and members of his own administration. .
Thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol that day in an attempt to stop the formal certification of his defeat, sending lawmakers and Pence himself running for their lives.
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Information from Alexandra Ulmer; additional reporting by Eric Beech; Written by Makini Brice; Edited by Cynthia Osterman
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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