“Trump allies say Kemp’s recent moves have reopened old wounds and destroyed what little trust had been rebuilt”

New reporting from the Washington Examiner outlines how Gov. Brian Kemp’s backing of failed and fired former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley in the GOP U.S. Senate primary has “reopened old wounds” between him and President Donald Trump, setting up a “showdown” that could “fracture” the Georgia GOP ahead of the midterms. 

Read More Below:

Washington Examiner: “Inside the GOP Blowup Over Brian Kemp’s Georgia Senate Pick: ‘It’s a Dumpster Fire’”

Key Points:

• A fragile peace between Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and President Donald Trump‘s world is collapsing over Georgia’s Senate race, with one GOP insider calling the fallout “a dumpster fire.”
• According to sources, the governor and Trump’s team had quietly reached an understanding by working together to identify a viable candidate.
• However, that understanding unraveled when Kemp began pushing behind the scenes for former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, a longtime family friend with no political experience, blindsiding Trump allies and bypassing more established contenders.
• “It’s a dumpster fire, and it’s pretty clear there’s next to zero coordination between Kemp and Trump’s teams,” said a Republican operative based in Atlanta. “Kemp has just gone out on his own.”
• The backlash from Trump’s political orbit has been swift and scathing.
• Allies of the president have mocked Dooley’s lack of experience, questioned his Republican credentials, and accused Kemp of putting personal loyalty above party unity in a must-win race.
• “It’s one of the worst-calculated political moves in Senate campaign history,” said one Republican strategist with ties to Georgia and Capitol Hill.
• “The grassroots doesn’t know him, the donors don’t want him, and the Trumpworld is livid.”
• But Trump allies say Kemp’s recent moves have reopened old wounds and destroyed what little trust had been rebuilt since their post-2020 feud.
• “The president values loyalty, and this feels like a direct challenge,” said one person close to Trump’s political operation.
• Adding to the tension, Trump allies have zeroed in on members of Dooley’s inner circle who they view as openly hostile to the president, particularly Cody Hall, a longtime Kemp strategist.
• Hall has come under scrutiny from Trump allies for his past criticism of the president and his work on Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign.
• “That’s not normal,” said one Georgia Republican operative familiar with the incident. “I think that’s a major, major problem for his campaign. He’s got a bunch of Never Trumpers leading the show. And not only is that a problem interpersonally, but it also means they probably aren’t terribly in touch with what the primary audience is looking for right now.”
• “The governor and the president haven’t really seen eye to eye in a long time,” said a Georgia campaign operative. “They tried to reconcile, but I think most of us were skeptical from the start. If there ever was a truce, it was temporary at best.”
• “The ultimate kingmaker in Republican politics right now is Donald Trump, and the last thing you want to do is pick a fight with the president over a Senate race in your own backyard.”
• The groundswell behind Collins has only deepened the divide, signaling that much of the party’s infrastructure is siding against the governor. Several Republican insiders described the moment as a “showdown in the making,” with the potential to fracture the party just as it eyes a marquee pickup opportunity.