Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks during a Get Out the Vote rally May 23, 2022 in Kennesaw, Georgia. After incumbent Kemp refused to accept former President Donald Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud in Georgia, he sought revenge by personally recruiting former Republican Sen. David Perdue to face a key challenge. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, file)
“Bottom line in the state of Georgia, as long as I’m governor, we will obey the law and the constitution regardless of who it politically helps or hurts,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said at a news conference Thursday.
Of course, Kemp’s commitment to allegiance to the law and the state constitution was notable for only one reason: Kemp is a Republican. The front runner for the Republican presidential nomination is eager to have his Republicans break laws and destroy the constitution to protect him and his minions from the ravages of crime and exact revenge on the forces of law and order that seek to restrain him.
It was precisely such an attack on the law that inspired Kemp’s testimony. MAGA lawmakers across the state have been seeking extra-legal means to clear Donald Trump of a criminal charge stemming from his efforts to overthrow the republic. Apparently they lacked confidence in Trump’s claims of innocence and instead called for the removal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. If they can end the trial before a jury – and the world – can hear testimonies and evidence of Trump’s actions, the King of Mar-a-Lago and his criminal allies could potentially be spared consequences.
But Kemp is not cooperating with calls for an oversight commission to remove Willis. Nor does he support the planned special session of the Legislature aimed at placing Trump outside the reach of the law.
“One person in the General Assembly called for a special session that would ignore current Georgian law and directly intervene in the proceedings of a separate but equal branch of government and echoed outside those walls of the former president,” Kemp said. “A special session of the General Assembly to end the circumvention of this law is impracticable and could ultimately prove unconstitutional.”
The expression “separately but equal”, uttered with a Georgian accent, has perhaps never been used for such honest purposes.
Kemp is not alone. But he’s rare. The names of other conservatives who have refused to sanction Trump’s crimes are well known. Many lost their positions as a direct result of their integrity. Former MP Liz Cheney. Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers lost his campaign for a seat in the state Senate after refusing to consider Trump’s stolen campaign claims as anything other than the lies they were blatantly.
Yes, like Georgia Foreign Minister Brad Raffensberger, Kemp rules a purple state with emerging bluish hues in the suburbs. But that doesn’t really explain their behavior of rejecting Trump and obeying the law. Republicans in Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania were all in purple states. Many of them got out of hand.
Ultimately, moral choices were made by Kemp, Raffensberger, Bowers, Cheney, and the others who will all be heroes of this sordid chapter of American history. They refused to sink into the moral misery gripping their party, while others, like New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who succeeded Cheney in the House leadership, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, decided to dive deep .
Kemp and Raffensberger survived Trump’s attacks and were easily re-elected in Georgia. They appear to have paid a minimal political price for their integrity. But little did they know that would be the outcome when Trump and his cronies attempted to undermine democracy in late 2020. The political future was unknown. Whatever you think of their politics, they are moral men. It turns out the old conservatives were right: Character matters.
Francis Wilkinson is a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion, covering US politics and politics. ©2023 Bloomberg. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
