Donald Trump chances of election success in Georgia were jeopardized when he attacked the popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp at the weekend, according to several experts — and MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire argued Monday that the former president's personal grudges could cost his party a shot at regaining a Senate majority.
The former president lashed out at Kemp during his rally in Atlanta, where he appeared in the same arena that Vice President Kamala Harris had packed a few days earlier. Lemire told "Morning Joe" that Trump has been knocked off his game since Harris took over as the Democratic Party's presumed nominee.
"Georgia arrived as a swing state ahead of schedule in 2020 because of Trump's poor performance in office," Lemire said. "Then, of course, no one anticipated Democrats would get both Senate seats [in 2022], but Trump, while fighting the big lie, you know, refused to go down and campaign. The one event he had was a screed against all the Republicans there, it turned off GOP voters. Democrats get both seats and then the majority of the upper chamber."
Trump has struggled to define Harris, who has cut his polling lead in key states since President Joe Biden left the race, and Lemire said the ex-president has frustrated his campaign team with poor choices.
"All that talk of the disciplined, professional Trump campaign, that's gone, out the window," Lemire said.
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"The candidate is making decisions much to the consternation of those around him, and he's rattled. We always say this here. If you want to know how Donald Trump feels, look at Truth Social in the middle of the night. It's been screed after screed since Harris ascended to the top of the ticket.
"The Trump campaign has no answer yet how to respond to her. He's rattled by the crowd size, obviously. Look, they both filled that arena, but Harris could do it. Biden, that was something he couldn't do."
"It can't be said enough, Brian Kemp is really popular in Georgia," Lemire added. "With Harris at the top of the ticket and Trump reigniting this feud with Kemp, a couple Republicans said to me over the weekend, Georgia is very much in play right now. They feel like it could slip away from Republicans."
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