Trump turns up heat in attacks on top Georgia Republicans, touts

Former President Trump returned to Georgia this weekend, to amplify his attacks on the key battleground state’s top elected Republican leaders and to showcase a trio of candidates loyal to the former president.

For Trump, the trip to Georgia was personal – it came as he’s still trying to overturn his razor thin defeat to now-President Biden in Georgia, more than 10 months after losing the White House in the 2020 election. And Trump used his rally at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry, in the central part of the state, to target conservative Gov. Brian Kemp, Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for refusing the then-president’s calls to overturn the election results in Georgia.

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Trump charged in comments to the large crowd that last year’s contest was “the most corrupt election in the history of the country,” as he once again repeated his unfounded claims that presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen” from him.

And the former president urged his supporters to oust Kemp and Raffensperger in next year’s elections, saying “the people of Georgia must replace the RINOs and weak Republicans who made it all possible.” “RINO” stands for Republican in name only.

Former President Donald Trump greets supporters during his Save America rally in Perry, Ga., on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)
(AP)

Kemp, who along with Raffensperger is running for reelection next year, narrowly defeated Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams in 2018. But Trump said that he would have rather seen Abrams win. “Stacey, would you like to take his place?” the former president stated. “It’s OK with me.”

While he’s yet to back a candidate to challenge Kemp in the 2022 Republican primary, Trump once again appeared to try and recruit former Sen. David Perdue to take on the governor.

“Are you running for governor, David Perdue? Did I hear you’re running for governor?” the former president said.

Trump’s endorsed Rep. Jody Hice in his primary challenge against Raffensperger. Hice scored a big hit with the crowd when he vowed to “get rid of Brad Raffensperger.”

Another candidate the former president’s backed who spoke at the rally was state Sen. Burt Jones, a Trump loyalist who’s bidding for lieutenant governor to succeed Duncan, who decided against running for reelection.

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Georgia is one of handful of states where Biden narrowly edged Trump to win the White House. The ballots in Georgia were counted three times – the original Election Day count, a mandatory hand recount and a recount requested by the president’s campaign. Dozens of legal challenges by Trump and his allies were shot down in Georgia and the other close states, and then-Attorney General William Barr said his Justice Department had not seen fraud on the kind of scale that could flip the…