Kemp: Republicans 'cannot get distracted' over Trump investigations to win presidency

ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is taking a shot a former President Donald Trump ahead of the Republican's attempt to take the White House back in 2024.

Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" Sunday, Kemp called on Republicans, saying that "we cannot get distracted."

"We have to tell people, No. 1, what we’re for. No. 2, that we’re going to be focused on the future and what we’re going to do for the voters in our state or the American people. And then, No. 3, we have to do a simple thing: We have to win," Kemp said.

While the governor did not explicitly mention Trump, Kemp's comments come just days after CNN reports Kemp spoke at a private donor retreat for the Republican National Committee in Nashville, telling the audience "not a single swing voter in a single swing state will vote for our nominee if they choose to talk about the 2020 election being stolen."

Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during his primary night election party at the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame on May 24, 2022 in Atlanta. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump, the early frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, is facing the unprecedented prospect of mounting another campaign for the White House while simultaneously on trial in New York for charges stemming from hush money payments to women during his 2016 campaign. He remains under investigation in Georgia's Fulton County and Washington, raising the prospect of multiple trials in several jurisdictions, all unfolding as Republicans begin voting on their next nominee.

Speaking to Tapper, the Georgia governor referred to the investigations as possible distractions that help Biden's campaign. 

"If we get distracted and talk about other things that the Democrats want to talk about, like these investigations – regardless of what you think about the politics of those – if we get distracted every day and let the media just talk about that, that only helps Joe Biden," Kemp said. "It does not give us a path for Republicans to win."

Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a rally at the Waco Regional Airport on March 25, 2023 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

When asked if Trump was unelectable, Kemp responded, "That's for the people to decide."

Trump has dominated the GOP field in the early stages of the 2024 presidential race. But many high-dollar GOP donors have reportedly been looking to send their support elsewhere this time.

Only a few candidates have officially entered the race, Trump’s U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor; former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who announced days after Trump’s indictment was filed; and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

More candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are expected to enter the race by the time the next fundraising reports are due in mid-July.

The former president and the Georgia governor have clashed in the past after Trump railed against Kemp for certifying President Biden's victory in the Peach State following the 2020 presidential election as he repeatedly alleged voter fraud led to his defeat.

In 2021, Trump told a crowd at a rally in Dalton, Georgia that he would be campaigning against Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the upcoming gubernatorial election. 

"I'll be here in a year in a half campaigning against your governor," Trump told the cheering crowd. "And your crazy secretary of state."

His political action committee later gave $500,000 to a group that was running attack ads in Georgia against Kemp, criticizing the governor for not doing enough to combat voter fraud, citing discredited claims that a Georgia law enforcement agency examined and dismissed.

In the primary, Kemp defeated Trump-backed former senator David Perdue, earning a whopping 73.7% of the vote before going on to defeat Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in the midterm election. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.