Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, met privately this Friday with Brian Kemp, his counterpart in Georgia, who publicly rebuked DeSantis’ main rival, Donald Trump.
The meeting took place in Atlanta during an event for the Republican presidential candidates, according to the DeSantis campaign, adding that an endorsement was not discussed.
The two men spoke before DeSantis appeared at the candidate forum, sponsored by conservative radio host Erick Erickson, who did not invite Trump.
Kemp is the latest Republican governor to have taken a stand against the former president and then been sought by DeSantis.
He has campaigned with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds numerous times. And on a New Hampshire radio show earlier this week, he praised that state’s governor, Chris Sununu, who has also been critical of Trump.
After Trump and several of his allies were indicted in Georgia this week for trying to overturn the 2020 election, Kemp pointed to the former president’s continuing false claims of fraud.
“Our elections in Georgia are safe, accessible and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor,” Kemp remarked on X, a social network formerly known as Twitter.
‘The future of our country is at stake in 2024′
Kemp and other state officials angered Trump when they rejected his demands to reverse the results of the 2020 Georgia election. Last year, Trump defended an unsuccessful primary challenge against Kemp by David Perdue, a former senator.
Unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, Georgia does not vote early in Republican presidential races, but it is one of the few swing states that could play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
At the Atlanta forum, the last meeting of major candidates before next week’s debate, Kemp told the audience that he believed Trump would not stand trial in Georgia before the election, despite the efforts of the US district attorney. Fulton County, Fani Willis, to set a date for March.
As for the lingering arguments about the last presidential run by Trump and others, he said: “We have to stay focused on the future. It’s not something that happened three years ago.”
2023-08-19 10:49:37
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