Donald Trump really doesn't like Brian Kemp. Like, a lot.
How little regard does Trump have for the current Republican governor? So little that in a campaign appearance in Georgia over the weekend, Trump sounded like he would be just fine with Stacey Abrams, Kemp's 2018 opponent, becoming governor in 2022.
"And Stacey Abrams, who still has not conceded, and that's OK," Trump said of the former state senator. "Stacey, would you like to take his place? It's OK with me."
" ... Of course having her, I think, might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know what I think. Might very well be better."
In several rants against Kemp (and Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger), Trump argued that the reason neither was willing to overturn the 2020 election results in the state was because they were afraid of Abrams. (Abrams formed a voting rights and accessibility group following her narrow 2018 loss to Kemp.)
"Brian Kemp, Raffensperger, and your state leaders surrendered to Stacey Abrams," Trump insisted. "They totally surrendered to her. I think he's afraid of Stacey Abrams. I don't understand that. Stacy, you know, you have a great team. OK?"
And then he did it again.
"Your state leaders surrendered to Stacey Abrams and allowed themselves to be bullied into a disastrous consent decree that effectively abolished signature verification and paved the way for massive fraud," said Trump. "And they don't want to do anything about it. They don't."
Trump is at war with his own party.
What Trump's praise for Abrams and harsh criticism of Kemp (and Raffensperger) should remind us all of is this basic fact: Donald Trump is as much (or even more) at war with his own party as he is with Democrats.
Donald Trump is at war with anyone that doesn't bow to his will.
Exactly.
I've noticed that about conservatives (Republicans these days) in general.
As far as I can tell, they're 'for' almost nothing. They run by bringing down their opponents -- usually but not always people outside their group.
For instance they push for tax cuts but even that is cutting something (as much as they like to frame it as 'letting you keep your own' ).
Their tribal motivations only work up to the point that they agree with others in the contest entirely.
Since they don't seem to have positive agendas of their own, they're stuck either agreeing with the others or trashing them -- even if they're on the other side.
When your people don't strongly enough play the loyalty game(and I think these days that's all tRump has) you're forced to make tough decisions.
They're selfish to the point that they can only back an idea if it benefits their specific, individual pockets.
If #45 keeps running his mouth he may start to alienate some of the remaining literate people in his party. Not the base, just the ones with the money.