Maybe President Donald Trump got the message that Brian Kemp has plenty of work ahead to try to unite Georgia's divided electorate.
The president tweeted hearty congratulations to Kemp on his election victory after Stacey Abrams ended her bid for Georgia governor. But he also congratulated the Democrat on waging a campaign that fought "brilliantly and hard."
“She will have a terrific political future!” he exclaimed.
Trump endorsed Kemp days before the July runoff at the behest of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and his support helped the Republican rocket to victory over Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
He’s had nothing positive to say about Abrams before Friday.
He recently told reporters in Washington she's "not qualified" to be Georgia governor. And at a rally in Macon, he claimed that her victory will have "Georgia turn into Venezuela" and called her one of the "most extreme, far-left politicians in the entire country."
“She wants to raise your income tax very substantially, she wants to raise your property tax very substantially,” Trump falsely asserted, adding “she supports a socialistic takeover of health care.”
Trump may rue his kind tweet. Abrams is likely to run for public office again and may launch a 2020 challenge of U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who is perhaps the state’s foremost Trump ally.
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