Gov. Brian Kemp brought a handheld prop with him Friday to his address to the Republican conference in Atlanta: A pencil he used to demonstrate President Joe Biden’s control over the nation’s bureaucracy and regulatory system.
“They are pencil-whipping the American people right now,” Kemp said. “We have to stay focused on winning the pencil battle. Because then we can use the eraser to get rid of all the bad things that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have done.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
It was a new twist on a message Kemp has honed for months. No ally of Donald Trump, he has long warned the former president’s obsession with his 2020 election defeat plays directly into Democratic hands.
And he framed the sweeping Fulton County indictment against Trump and 18 allies as a distraction because, he predicted, the trial wouldn’t begin until after the election despite Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ proposed March start date.
“We have to be focused on the future - not something that happened three years ago. We don’t need to be focusing on stupid things that aren’t going to happen before this election. We can deal with that later, after we win. We have to tell people what we are for -- and then we have to have a candidate that can win the election.
He added: “Because if we don’t win, we don’t get to govern. We don’t get the pencil. It’s that simple to me.”
As for his own political future, such as a possible 2026 run for the U.S. Senate, the second-term governor was circumspect.
“To me the future is 2024 – not 2026,” he said to laughs. “I hope y’all are getting my message today.”
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