Republican Official Begs Trump To Stay Out Of Georgia's Governor Race

Republican Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan of Georgia tried to issue a plea to Donald Trump this past week to stay out of the Georgia election for governor this coming year. Trump has already refused to do it, as he views incumbent Republican governor Brian Kemp as a traitor who refused to overturn the state's election results to let Trump win. Trump is now backing primary challenger David Perdue, setting up a potential fracturing of the Georgia Republican Party. Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

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*This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos.

Things are heating up in the state of Georgia, even as we approach the winter season here, but they're heating up in the Republican party this week, former Republican Senator from Georgia. David Perue announced that he is in fact running for the governorship of Georgia as a Republican meaning incumbent Republican governor. Brian Kemp is going to have a very tough primary challenger. Now I mentioned this over at the ring of fire, but immediately after David Perue ma David Perue made this announcement, which Donald Trump had definitely been waiting for. He totally wanted Purdue to run. Trump releases an idiotic statement, basically saying that the geo primary is already rigged. You know, trying to totally write off any loss that he may suffer, not Purdue, but Trump himself, because it's not about Purdue. It's always about Trump. But even before Trump issued his idiotic statement, Jeff Duncan, the Lieutenant governor in the state of Georgia, Republican when, on CNN and essentially beg Donald Trump stay at Margo.

That's what he said. He said, stay in Margo. Don't interfere in Georgia. Don't come up here. Don't cause rifts cause divisions and fracture our party further, oh, Trump's not gonna do that. It's cute that you would beg him to do it, but clearly you haven't been paying attention to politics for the last 12 months. I don't know what you've been doing. Uh, but it seems to me as a politician, you should probably pay attention to what's going on because Donald Trump hates with a passion Brian Kemp, and he is off that Brian Kemp didn't overturn George's 20, the election results to give Trump the state. That's it? Because Brian Kemp wouldn't effectively break the law to give Donald Trump what he wanted. Trump hates Kemp. Trump has gone out there on the campaign trail, gotten completely off topic and attacked Kemp and said that, Hey, I hope Stacy Abras beats him, which by the way, Stacy Abrams did an out she's running for governor this week.

So hell yes. Stacy Abrams. Absolutely. One of my favorite politicians. And I hope she doesn't do anything that makes me regret saying that nevertheless Republicans want Trump to stay out of Georgia because they understand the damage that he could do. Trump's presence. If he were to come, man, if he makes it, you know, his big issue and he talks about it, even outside of Georgia is going to cause a fracturing within that Republican party. Now, obviously one of these two men, either Kemp or Purdue is going to win that primary. You know, I, I, I don't see a better, stronger challenger popping up to kind of take that away from them. So of them's gonna win, but what's gonna happen in the run up to that is that they're gonna be fighting back and forth. And if Trump inserts himself in the middle and starts bad, mouthing Kemp, attacking Kemp, going after him viciously, then Kemp supporters are gonna be turned off from Purdue and Purdue supporters are gonna be turned off from Kemp.

So no matter which man wins a good portion of the opponents base is going to be off by the time next November rolls around those off, people are gonna stay home. They're gonna let Stacy Abrams win that race because they're off at either Trump or Kemp. That's the Republican fear. And I'm not saying that's 100% gonna happen, but that is what Republicans fear will in, in Georgia. And they fear that because Donald Trump's election lies, we do know this helped depress the vote in the runoff election in Georgia early this year. Uh, that's why David Perue is not a Republican Senator anymore. Trump lied to the people of Georgia told them that the election was fraudulent. You can't trust the election. So runoff election rolls around and they say, I'm not gonna vote. This guy tells me you can't trust it. I'm not going to the polls and boom, two democratic senators from the state of Georgia, along with the state going blue. Georgia's a blue state right now. That's crazy. It's also wonderful. And if Trump has his way, Georgia might get even bluer in a little under a year. And my God, I hope that happens.