GA Primary Day with C&B: Gov. Brian Kempโs Final Argument
24 May 2022
CLAY: It is decision day in Georgia โ for the primary, at least โ a lot of hotly contested races underway. And in one of those races, weโve got the current governor of the state of Georgia, Brian Kemp, with us now. Governor, appreciate you making the time.
GOV. KEMP: Hey, thanks for having me back on, guys. Good afternoon.
BUCK: Appreciate you, sir. So tell us, what do folks need to know about what youโre pushing for and whatโs going on today? I mean, what are the primary takeaways for Georgia decision day?
GOV. KEMP: Hey, what Iโve been telling people for weeks and months now is weโre in the fight for the soul of our state, and Marty and the girls and I are getting up every day working hard to make sure that Stacey Abrams is not gonna be our governor or your next president and we gotta win the primary first and be able to do that. But thatโs our message to people is, โLook. Iโve got the record to beat her, Iโve beaten here before, and we can do it again and we need to get the vote out today and bring this thing home tonight and then unite and go and make sure that Stacey Abrams is not gonna be our governor.โ
CLAY: Governor, you won by 55,000 votes in 2018, and Stacey Abrams refused to concede. Sheโs now saying Georgia is the worst state in the country. Sheโs getting her picture taken not wearing a mask while all the kids around her have to wear masks. How bad do you have to beat her do you think for her to be willing to concede in 2022?
GOV. KEMP: Oh, man, Iโm not worried about her conceding. I just want to beat her. I want to beat her and get the race certified and continue serving this great state. Iโm so proud of her state. Itโs obvious she is not. We have resilient people here. We fought through so much, especially the last two years. And have so many good things going for us, you know. Sheโs tired of hearing that weโre the number one state in the country for business.
Well, Iโm not tired of hearing that because weโre giving hardworking Georgians great opportunities out there โ and Marty and the girls and I know, we live in the greatest state in the country to live, work, and raise our families. You know, thatโs what weโre fighting for. Sheโs trying to please her Hollywood elite and folks from New York and California and other places around the country that are funding her campaign so she can use this as a steppingstone to be president.
And weโre focused on hardworking Georgians and doing what they want and what they care about, and thatโs why I reopened the economy when I did after not closing most of it. And she criticized me. And itโs why we pushed to get our kids back in the classroom. She criticized that. Passed the strongest Election Integrity Act in the country. She criticized that. She criticized the heartbeat bill, and everybody was trying to cancel us here. But I stood up and fought back, โcause thatโs what Georgians wanted. I was listening to them, not the national media and not her, and thatโs what Iโll continue to do as our governor.
BUCK: Georgia Governor Kemp is with us right now, and, Governor, there is this narrative thatโs already forming because some of the early voting numbers are already in, and โ not a surprise to the host here or the audience of this show, but โ numbers are up, it turns out, despite Joe Biden claiming Georgia was engaged in Jim Crow 2.0.
And, yes, that was the quote said many times by Biden and other prominent Democrats. Thatโs clearly not going on. I mean, that was outrageous โ an outrageous slander, really, of your state โ at the time to say that. But now theyโre trying to claim, well, if it werenโt for the voting integrity measures in the state of Georgia, it would have been an even better turnout. What do you say to that argument?
GOV. KEMP: Look, their argument is fallen on deaf ears here. You know, people in Georgia know itโs easy to vote and now itโs hard to cheat. We passed the strongest Election Integrity Act in the country. But we have, you know, great opportunities for people to vote in early voting here in our state. Over three weeks we added days for people to vote on the weekend last year in the Election Integrity Act.
Obviously, you can vote weeks before the election by an absentee ballot in Georgia. And poor President Biden didnโt even realize his own state of Delaware is restrictive or more restrictive than most states in the country, Iโm pretty sure I can say that. I know theyโre more strict, Delaware is, than Georgia. So theyโre just all being hypocrites. I mean, look. Stacey Abrams reserved the domain name JimCrow2.0 three weeks before the final version of the bill was ever put together, โcause they donโt care about the truth.
Itโs just a narrative that they want people to believe โcause it months old good with certain people but now people are seeing what the truth is, just like we knew it would be when it played out and youโre seeing the participation rate is up in Georgia. Itโs up on the Democratic side as well as the Republican side. And thatโs a good thing. We want people to participate. But we also want everybody to have confidence in the elections.
And, you know, people want to have confidence in their government. And I think theyโre Kennedy with where Stacey Abrams would take us if she were our governor โcause itโd be the same way theyโre taking Washington, D.C., with 40-year high inflation, more taxes, more regulation, less opportunity. And thatโs what weโre fighting against. And thatโs why weโre in the fight for the soul of our state, just asking people for their vote and their support today. But this is gonna be a race that will be the number-one watched governorโs rate in the country so after we get through the night, weโre gonna need everybody out there thatโs worried about Stacey Abrams being the president coming here to support us and helping her defeat her again.
CLAY: Where Governor Kemp, when we talked, I remember speaking of people that bought into the Jim Crow 2.0 lie, one of them was Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred and he pulled the All-Star Game out of Atlanta. Now, I know a lot of Braves fans listening to us right now are excited because the Braves won the World Series and brought three World Series games to Atlanta anyway.
But I will be Rob Manfred called you and told you that he was going to be pulling the All-Star Game. Assuming you win tonight โ which I think you are โ do you plan on talking to Rob Manfred anytime soon and asking him to bring the All-Star Game back to Atlanta because, beyond any doubt whatsoever, the criteria which he used to justify pulling that All-Star Game has been proven to be a hundred percent false? Shouldnโt he apologize to the people of Georgia, Atlanta Braves fans, and bring the All-Star Game back, given what heโs been now proven to be wrong about?
GOV. KEMP: Well, the best news is the Braves got us poetic justice when they won the World Series.
CLAY: Yes.
GOV. KEMP: I think the baseball gods were looking out for us โcause what was done by Major League Baseball and other big corporations was wrong. They didnโt understand what was in the bill. They were trying to placate to the radicals and Stacey Abrams because of political pressure and they folded to it. And I warned them that you can never make this crowd happy. Thereโs always gonna be more they want and also youโre gonna make the other side mad in the middle of this.
You should just stay out because the truth is the bill is a good bill but, you know, Iโm not focused on the All-Star Game right now. Iโm focused on the Braves winning and getting back above .500 and winning the division again, and Iโm focused on winning this election here tonight and again in November. Iโm not too worried about Major League Baseball right now. I think theyโve seen by the way things have played out and what the numbers are in early voting.
You know, doesnโt take a rocket scientist to see that the truth was on our side, we did the right thing, and weโre gonna continue to do that. And thatโs what Iโve been standing up for even under incredible political pressure. And I think thatโs what people want in their leaders, you know? They want somebody thatโs gonna stand up and fight for โem. And I have been doing that, and thatโs what I want to continue to do.
CLAY: Governor Kemp, enjoy the night. Weโll talk to you again soon. I know itโs gonna be a long struggle through the fall, but a lot of people got their eyes on Georgia, and we look forward to helping you out.
GOV. KEMP: Thanks, guys. Have a great afternoon.
BUCK: Thanks, governor.
CLAY: That is governor Brian Kemp. Big night in the state of Georgia when it comes to primaries.
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