Brian Kemp Puts Donald Trump on Blast for COVID Response

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp mocked former President Donald Trump on Saturday for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing him of following orders from top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying he "parroted media talking points."

Kemp, a Republican in his second term, has had a frosty relationship with the MAGA leader and his allies since he rebuffed Trump's alleged requests to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Kemp recently provoked the ire of Trump and his allies by refusing to hold a special session to potentially impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who led the investigation that resulted in the former president's fourth indictment last month. Trump, the frontrunner in the GOP 2024 presidential primary, and 18 other co-defendants, have been charged with conspiracy charges related to Georgia's electoral results. Trump, meanwhile, has plead not guilty in the case.

The governor's refusal to help Trump deepened the GOP's rift in his state between mainstream Republicans and MAGA loyalists like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones.

Kemp lashed out at the former president on Saturday, this time criticizing Trump over his response to the pandemic. Kemp said Trump, who recently condemned new COVID mandates, opposed Georgia's attempt to re-open a little over a month after businesses and schools were shuttered in 2020. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the governor responded to a week-old video of the MAGA leader lashing out at "every COVID Tyrant."

Newsweek reached out via email on Saturday to representatives for Kemp and Trump.

When Kemp announced plans in April 2020 to start re-opening some businesses, Trump said he "strongly" disagreed with the decision, saying it was "just too soon."

The Georgia Republican said he hasn't forgotten Trump's public opposition in the post on Saturday afternoon. Kemp's post was in response to a shortened version of a viral video of the former president condemning institutions that have reinstated mask mandates in the wake of two new COVID-19 variants. The original video, just over a minute and a half long, amassed more than 4.3 million views on X.

In the 14-second clip, shared on X by right-wing media website The Daily Caller on August 31, Trump pledges not to comply with reinstated COVID-19 mandates.

"To every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom, hear these words: we will not comply," Trump said. "So, don't even think about it."

Kemp criticized Trump for listening to the advice of Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and member of Trump's White House's coronavirus task force. Fauci became a lightning rod for right-wing disdain during the pandemic, with people often calling for his resignation or pushing Trump to oust the doctor.

"The fact is former president Trump led the opposition to my decision to reopen Georgia - the first state in the country to do so," Kemp said in the post. "While he listened to Fauci & parroted media talking points, I listened to hardworking Georgians. He may not remember, but I sure as hell do."

In the full video shared by Trump's campaign team on X, the former president railed against news that some hospitals, businesses and schools are requiring masks again due to the rise in new coronavirus variants, which recently emerged and caused an uptick in the number of COVID-related hospitalizations in August.

Trump said that if he's re-elected, he will "use every available authority to cut federal funding to any school, college, airline or public transportation system that imposes a mask mandate or a vaccine mandate."