Trump's Call for Kemp to Resign a 'Distraction'

The president continues to claim that he won Georgia
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 30, 2020 6:36 PM CST
Trump's Call for Kemp to Resign a 'Distraction'
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a presser Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Atlanta.   (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday called a tweet by President Trump demanding his resignation a “distraction,” the AP reports, and said he was focused on the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic and upcoming runoff elections for two Senate seats. Trump said earlier in the day that Kemp, a fellow Republican, was an “obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG!" Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden but has repeatedly made baseless accusations that illegal votes cost him the state's electoral votes. He has also previously criticized Kemp, who has rejected his demands to undermine the results. In Wednesday's tweet, he said Kemp “should resign from office.”

“All of these things are a distraction," Kemp said from state Capitol. “I mean, I’ve supported the president. I’ve said that many times. I worked as hard as anybody in the state on his reelection up through Nov. 3.” Kemp said the focus should be on the state's Jan. 5 elections. Democrats need to win both seats to take control of the U.S. Senate. “All these other things, there is a constitutional and legal process that is playing out, and I’m very comfortable letting that process play out," he said. The spat flared as Georgia officials continued to defend the election results. Investigators who audited the signatures on more than 15,000 absentee ballot envelopes in one Georgia county found “no fraudulent absentee ballots,” according to an audit report. Biden narrowly won Georgia by about 12,000 votes out of 5 million cast.

(More Election 2020 stories.)

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