(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp hosted a private donor event, signaling that he plans to be an anti-Trump force in the 2024 primary election cycle.
Kemp’s event featured a list of RINOs, including but not limited to: former House Speaker John Boehner and Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, NBC News reported. He also brought a slew of billionaire donors to the posh island getaway where the soirre was held.
At the event, Kemp delivered a speech in which he suggested the steps that Republicans must take in order to be successful in 2024, and it didn’t include backing former President Donald Trump.
“First, we have to tell voters what we’re for. Second, focus on the future,” he began, emphasizing the need to win above all else. “And third, we have to be able to win a general election. Because we can’t score points if we don’t have the ball.”
Kevin McLaughlin, a GOP national strategist, said that Trump’s name came up repeatedly at the retreat, noting that it was always in the context of needing to excise him from the party in order to secure a victory.
“I think everyone was focusing on candidates who can win not only primaries but general elections,” McLaughlin noted.
Though he has spent much effort bashing the former president, it is also clear that Kemp is keeping open the option of running himself in 2024. McLaughlin went so far as to suggest that Kemp ought to be strongly considered by voters.
“I think he certainly has every right to be in the conversation,” McLaughlin said. “But he wants to ensure that in Georgia there’s a bit of an equilibrium that is reset to where we think it should be.”
Kemp and his team started a Super PAC last fall, ostensibly to aid former senatorial candidate Herschel Walker in his runoff election. However, some have floated the idea that he is either preparing for a 2024 presidential campaign, or a 2026 senate campaign, after his term as Georgia governor expires.
