(RoyalPatriot.com )- On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump continued to back a Republican candidate for governor in Georgia who most voters don’t believe could take down the likely Democratic challenger.
Speaking at a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Wednesday, Trump praised David Perdue, the former Republican Senator from Georgia who lost a runoff election last year that, in part, led to the Democrats taking control of the Senate. Perdue is running against incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
In the opening statements he gave this week, Trump said:
“Thank you all for being here to support a true America First warrior and the next governor of the great state of Georgia, David Perdue. David is a fearless and outstanding conservative leader, and he is the only candidate who can beat Stacey ‘the hoax’ Abrams this November.”
The former president is backing Perdue instead of Georgia’s incumbent governor in part because he believes Kemp and his administration didn’t do enough to advance Trump’s claims that there was widespread voter fraud in the state during the 2020 presidential election.
Trump directly attacked Kemp in his speech at the fundraiser, saying:
“David is running against Brian Kemp, a horrendous RINO [Republican In Name Only] who has betrayed the people of Georgia and betrayed Republican voters. As governor, Brian Kemp has repeatedly surrendered to Stacey Abrams and the radical left.
“A vote for RINO Brian Kemp in this primary is a vote for Governor Stacey Abrams. A vote for David Perdue is a vote to save Georgia from the radical left. Together, we will fire Brian Kemp. We will restore election integrity in Georgia, and we will make America great again.”
While a Trump endorsement is usually a surefire way for a candidate to gain popularity, that doesn’t seem to be the case in the Georgia gubernatorial race, at least according to polls.
A poll conducted by BK Strategies earlier this month found that 46.4% of Republican primary voters believe that Kemp would stand the best chance to take down Abrams in the General Election in November. Only 33.2% of these voters believe that Perdue would stand the best chance of doing so.
Abrams is the likely Democratic candidate who will emerge from the party’s primary election. She is a very controversial figure in Georgia, and in fact the nation.
She lost the 2018 gubernatorial election to Kemp, but she refused to concede to him. When she decided to do that, she accused Kemp of engaging in various voter suppression acts while he served as the Secretary of State in Georgia.
Since that time, Abrams has raised her profile nationally as voting rights activist and played a large role in trying to get out the vote for President Joe Biden during the 2020 election.
For Republicans in Georgia and around the country, this is a major election. Keeping Abrams from winning the gubernatorial election is almost more important than who defeats her.
But, Trump is sticking with Perdue, even if most Republican primary voters don’t believe he’s the best choice, at least as of now.