- The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday upbraided former President Donald Trump for claiming he has a trove of information about fraud in the state’s 2020 presidential contest.

Mr. Kemp rejected Mr. Trump’s claim one day after a Fulton County grand jury handed up an indictment charging the former president and his allies with a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 results in Georgia.

More immediately, Mr. Kemp sounded off over Mr. Trump’s decision to hold a press conference in New Jersey on Monday to highlight alleged election fraud in Georgia.

“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen,” Mr. Kemp wrote on X Tuesday. “For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward — under oath — and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor.”

Mr. Kemp and Mr. Trump’s political base aligns on some Republican issues, but claims about the 2020 election have been a source of contention between the pair.

Many Georgia Republicans who are not inclined to support President Biden, either, have repeatedly scolded Mr. Trump for claiming their election in 2020 wasn’t clean and secure.

Mr. Trump insists the state was stolen from him, handing Mr. Biden a bevy of electoral votes.

Mr. Kemp and other top Georgia Republicans have urged Mr. Trump to focus on what lies ahead.

“The future of our country is at stake in 2024, and that must be our focus,” Mr. Kemp wrote on X.

• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

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