Trump is back to attacking Republicans. You know, the people he needs to win in November.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has revived his feud with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp seemingly out of nowhere, for some reason.
“He’s a bad guy,” Trump said of Kemp during an Atlanta campaign rally Saturday. “He’s a disloyal guy, and he’s a very average governor.”
Trump’s feud with Kemp and other Georgia Republicans stems from the 2020 election, in which then-President Trump embarrassingly lost the traditionally red state. Following his defeat, Trump attempted to pressure state officials to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state.
Kemp fought back against that attempt, so now he's the enemy.
Does Trump realize he needs Kemp to win Georgia in November?
Insulting one of the GOP’s most respectable governors, who is extremely popular in his home state, isn’t a recipe for success from Trump, especially when polling in Georgia indicates an even race between him and Vice President Kamala Harris.
What makes it even worse is that Trump has evidently not reflected on the very mistakes he made between 2020 and 2022, when he lost Republicans the Senate through his own selfishness.
Republicans lost the Senate in 2022 because of a Senate race in Georgia, in which Trump propped up the extremely problematic Herschel Walker for the GOP nomination. Walker ended up losing in a runoff election.
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While a majority of the issue in that race was that the GOP nominated a man accused of domestic violence and pressuring a former girlfriend into getting an abortion, the other portion was that Trump had just spent the last two years bickering with Georgia Republicans for not helping Trump’s attempts to steal an election.
Trump spent the lead-up to 2022 complaining that Georgia voting was rigged, and that the establishment Republicans were no better than the Democrats there. Shockingly, the GOP lost because they didn’t show up to vote like the left did in that particular election.
Trump's latest attack on Kemp reminds voters why they dismissed him in 2020
Now, in 2024, Republicans are looking to take the Senate and presidency once again, and once again, Trump is making the same mistake of infighting with GOP leadership in swing states.
Insisting to your base, the current majority of GOP voters, that the people they are voting for up and down the ticket are not worth your vote is a gross miscalculation of how strong your chances are.
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Trump needs to win Georgia, but he also needs support at the state level to keep the party behind him.
While all of Georgia's House races in 2024 are likely already decided, sowing division in the GOP electorate could, at a minimum, cost the GOP millions as it did in 2022, or even cost seats entirely.
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Trump’s attacks against Kemp show he hasn’t changed in the past four years despite positive trends in his recent public conduct. He is still a vengeful, self-absorbed liar who has no interest in putting country or party above himself.
Trump has the GOP behind him more than he has at any point since entering the political spotlight. He would be wise to continue building unity within the party rather than have his own pride cost his party further elections.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump GOP attacks cost him Georgia before. Kemp feud may hurt him now