Graham implores Trump and Georgia governor to ‘repair the damage’

The South Carolina senator told Donald Trump to instead on winning the battleground state rather than settling scores.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) weighed in Sunday on the feud between Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, urging the Republicans to “repair the damage” and focus on winning the key swing state.

“Georgia is there for the taking. I think Gov. Kemp was a great governor, lowering taxes, less regulation. I think if you voted for Kemp and you want to vote for Harris, that makes no sense,” Graham told host Jacqui Heinrich on “Fox News Sunday.” “If we win, we’re going to go well on our way to winning 270 electoral votes. If we lose Georgia, it could be a very long night.”

On Saturday, Trump launched a series of personal attacks against Kemp on social media and during his campaign rally in Atlanta, calling the popular GOP governor a “bad guy,” “disloyal” and “very average governor.” He accused Kemp of interfering with his efforts to win in Georgia, echoing some of the claims central to his criminal indictment in Fulton County over his attempts to subvert the 2020 election results.

Kemp hit back at Trump in a post on X but stopped short of rescinding his support for the former president, who in 2018 endorsed the then-candidate for governor but in 2022 backed Kemp primary challenger David Perdue.

The weekend exchange revitalized Trump’s long-standing frustrations with Kemp for refusing to cooperate in his efforts to overturn his loss in Georgia and left some Republicans worried about his uncertain prospects in the battleground state.

Graham directed his message on Sunday directly to Trump, praising him for what he described as an “incredible presidency” for the nation and Georgia while reminding the Republican nominee of the party’s central goal in November.

“Mr. President, this is your election to lose. It’s important you win to reset a broken border and get the world in good order,” Graham said. “Let’s win this election, how about that? Let’s win an election we can't afford to lose.”

Though he was not indicted, the South Carolina senator was one of many Trump allies for which a special grand jury had recommended criminal indictments as part of the racketeering charges brought against the former president and 18 alleged co-conspirators in 2023. After the 2020 election, Graham called Georgia state officials amid an ongoing recount of votes in the state. He tried to block a subpoena from Atlanta-area prosecutors by taking his challenge to the Supreme Court, although the justices denied his bid and he ended up testifying before the special grand jury.

Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, polls have shown Trump’s lead diminishing nationally and in battleground states. Harris’ stronger numbers among Black and Latino voters could help prop her up in the Sun Belt, including in Georgia. Days before Trump’s rally in Atlanta, Harris rallied her supporters at the same venue with a crowd her campaign estimated at 10,000.

Also touching on Trump and Kemp’s spat, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that most of Trump’s speech Saturday went after Vice President Kamala Harris, not Kemp.

“So obviously they have their differences, but we’re all united in our need to stop Kamala Harris,” Cotton said of Trump and Kemp.