Trump Eyeing ‘Upgrade’ Over Georgia’s Gov. Kemp, Adviser Says

Jason Miller, Senior Adviser to the Trump 2020 reelection campaign, walks in the Capitol during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 9, 2021. Andrew Harnik/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump is looking into replacing Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2022 election, according to an adviser.

Jason Miller, spokesman and adviser for the former president, said on March 10 that Trump is serious about winning gubernatorial races in 2022 in order to prevent the same election “shenanigans” that took place during and after the 2020 election.

“We’ve started getting granular on the races that are coming up in 2022,” Miller said on Steve Bannon’s War Room. “We’ve discussed House members who voted for impeachment. We’ve also gone through the gubernatorial races, whether it’s an open seat where we need to hold it and get a good person, like Arizona, whether it’s a place where we have a chance for an upgrade, such as Georgia.”

Trump had vowed in early January to campaign against Kemp in 2022 because the Republican governor was uncooperative with efforts to authenticate the legitimacy of the 2020 election in the Peach State. Kemp said earlier this month that he would “absolutely” back Trump for president in 2024, raising the prospect, temporarily, that the two had made amends.

Miller said Trump’s team is going through a “robust” research and vetting process for candidates on the state and federal levels, including by verifying where prospects stand on key policy positions. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. is “very involved” in the operation, according to Miller.

“We want to make sure that we also go through and really kick the tires on the policy positions. What’s their stance on ending these forever wars? What is their stance on trade? What is their stance on ending illegal immigration and securing the border?” Miller said.

“We want to hear in their words, where do they stand?” Miller said. “We'll have that very much on the record.”

According to Miller, Trump also views defeating the Democrat governors in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada, as well as getting a Republican governor in the open seat in Pennsylvania, as being critical to preventing the 2020 election issues from happening again.

“We wouldn’t have had a lot of shenanigans from 2020 with rigging the election if we had had Republican governors in there to put their foot down. So it’s critical,” Miller said.

Trump has quickly amassed an $80 million war chest in his Save America political action committee, according to Miller. The total suggests that the former president has raised at least $50 million so far this year and appears to either match or even outpace the fundraising by the Republican National Committee, which reported raising $16.2 million in January.