Gov. Kemp, first lady cancel appearance with Vice President Pence due to family emergency

ATLANTA - Governor Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp will not attend a rally in Savannah with Vice President Mike Pence, a spokesperson with the Governor's office said Friday.

The Kemp's were scheduled to greet the vice president at Pence in Savannah at the ‘Defend the Majority Rally.'

Earlier on Friday, Vice President Pence touched down in the Peach State just after 12 p.m. and headed to the CDC in Atlanta.

As head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Pence was briefed on the COVID-19 vaccine and its distribution, which Gov. Brian Kemp has said Georgia is fully prepared to roll out once given approval.

The vice president then hosted a roundtable with CDC Director Robert Redfield and Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. 

Pence's scheduled stop Friday at the CDC comes on the heels of a grim record this week; U.S. deaths from the outbreak topped 3,100 in a single day.

But Pence remained optimistic in a visit in Tennessee Thursday.

"Help is on the way,” Pence said. “We are just a matter, we believe, of days away from when we will begin to distribute tens of millions of doses of a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine for the American people." 

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Pence's is appearing in Savannah to stump for Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, just under a month out from the twin Senate runoffs.

In Savannah, he'll likely try to sing the same tune as his November visit, pitching the incumbents as the last line of defense in Washington for the GOP and encouraging Georgians to get out the vote, despite in-party fighting casting doubt about the elections system.

President Trump also released details about his weekend visit to Georgia to rally supporters ahead of the Senate runoffs.

MORE: President Trump releases schedule of Georgia visit ahead of Senate runoff

The Democrats will also be receiving a boost from a big headliner. Former President Barack Obama will appear in a virtual campaign event on their behalf. 

The virtual "Get Out the Vote Rally' will also feature Stacey Abrams and Congresswoman-Elect Nikema Williams will be stumping for Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.

Democrats need Ossoff to defeat Perdue and Warnock to defeat Loeffler to force a 50-50 Senate, positioning Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking majority vote.

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