Kemp says he can’t rely on RNC ‘to get the vote out’

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said Tuesday he cannot rely on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to boost voter turnout in state elections.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Kemp on “The Source” what his thoughts were on Republicans’ prospects in November’s elections as former President Trump has thrown his support behind his daughter-in-law Lara Trump for co-chair of the RNC. Kemp said he was concerned about the national party’s ability to increase voter turnout and help Republican candidates in his response.

“I’ve had concerns about the RNC and their ability to get the vote out and to get the early vote out and to raise enough money to be able to help candidates on the ground and in Georgia,” Kemp said. “You know, we had to do a lot of that ourselves. And I’m not trying to, you know, pick at anybody that’s in the state party, the national party, but it’s just — it’s just the fact that, you know, we could not rely on them to get the vote out.”

“And I think that’s a concern that you know, any campaign — whether it’s Nikki Haley, or Donald Trump or anybody else — is going to be running. When you got to have a good ground game, you gotta raise a lot of money to get the vote out. We don’t need to wait till Election Day to do that,” he added.

Kemp has previously urged Republicans to not “look in the rearview mirror” in the 2024 election. He also previously urged Trump to abandon his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, warning that the former president could lose Georgia by continuing to push those claims.

“If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November,” Kemp said during an interview with Collins last year.

“There is no path for us to win the White House if we can’t win Georgia,” he later added.

Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) resisted Trump’s pressure in 2020 to change the results of the election in Georgia. The former president endorsed Kemp’s primary opponent in 2022 — two years after the governor refused Trump’s request to overturn the 2020 election results — but Kemp won the primary and reelection.

The Hill has reached out to the RNC for comment.