Republican Officials Turn Against Trump After Latest Georgia Rally

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According to Georgia reporter Greg Bluestein, Republican officials are fed up with ex-President Trump after what one described as a “shit show” at a Saturday night rally in Georgia. At the rally, Trump reiterated his false claims that last year’s presidential election had been somehow stolen for Joe Biden, and he even blatantly misrepesented the results of a GOP-backed audit in Arizona, claiming that the findings showed him winning Maricopa County. In fact, the audit concluded that Biden won the county, as had been previously determined. Likely frustrating some Republicans, Trump also commented that having former state legislator and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams as Georgia governor “might be better than having your existing governor.”

Bluestein did not name names, but he did share that after the rally, he received texts with messages like, “What a shit show,” “We have reached a new low,” and “I am just so mad — beyond words.” He also spotlighted remarks from former Georgia Republican state legislator Allen Peake, who said that he “will not vote for, give money to, or support any Republican candidate that continues to seeks Trump’s favor/blessing/endorsement by bashing [Governor Brian Kemp] and continuing this baseless claim that the election was stolen.” Trump has fueled his animosity towards Kemp with claims that the governor hasn’t done enough to address the supposed theft of the election, although security checks across the country have affirmed the results.

Bluestein added that a top official affiliated with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) told him that “Democrats will win 2022 general in a landslide if a Trump endorsed candidate makes it through the primary.” Trump is backing challenges to GOP officials including Kemp and Raffensperger. At his weekend rally in Georgia, Trump said about Kemp and Raffensperger that he thinks “there’s something wrong with them.” Recently, Trump sent Raffensperger a letter asking him to re-examine the presidential election results in Georgia with an eye towards their potential de-certification. Raffensperger has declined to take up the president’s cause. Instead, he has consistently pointed to the documented integrity of last year’s election.

Elsewhere in the country, Trump is also backing electoral challenges like a Republican primary race against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who supported his impeachment on a charge of incitement of insurrection after the Capitol riot in January and has since established herself as a prominent opponent of his lies about the integrity of the election.