If it’s WEDNESDAY… GOP strategists warn Trump’s political resilience so far could falter after Georgia indictment, NBC’s Garrett Haake, Katherine Doyle, Kristen Welker and Alex Tabet report… President Biden, at the White House, celebrates one-year anniversary of Inflation Reduction Act at 2:30 pm ET (while Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., won’t be there)… And death toll from Maui wildfires surpasses 100, as Biden promises to visit Hawaii as soon as he can.
But FIRST... Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp had no problem standing up to former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.
After Trump announced he was going to hold a news conference next week on a report alleging fraud in Georgia’s 2020 count, Kemp fired back on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen.”
“For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward — under oath — and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor.”
“The future of our country is at stake in 2024 and that must be our focus.”
Yet compare Kemp’s response with how much of the rest of the GOP presidential field has been reacting either to Trump’s most recent indictment or his false election claims.
“We see the legal system being weaponized against political opponents. That is un-American and unacceptable,” Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday in Iowa about Trump’s indictment.
When NBC’s Ali Vitali followed up to Scott if he had heard the recording of Trump asking Georgia’s secretary of state to find him an additional 11,780 votes, the 2024 presidential hopeful answered, “Yes, but we just draw different conclusions.”
And here was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking to New England media outlets, per NBC’s Alec Hernández: “I think it’s an example of this criminalization of politics,” he said of the most recent indictment against Trump.
Now later Tuesday, DeSantis told a Boston-area radio host that he didn’t think Trump should have run for president in 2024 in the first place given his legal challenges, Hernández adds. And that follows DeSantis’ “Of course he lost” answer to NBC’s Dasha Burns, when she asked him about Trump and the 2020 election.
Those comments, however, don’t go as far as Kemp’s did.
Trump’s rivals declining to take him on over his FOUR indictments remains arguably the most significant 2024 GOP story to date. (After all, if you don’t/can’t criticize Trump for getting indicted, what can you criticize him for?)
But Georgia’s governor is proving that there’s a different GOP way to approach Trump.
And remember this about Kemp: He easily defeated a Trump-backed primary challenge in 2022 and went on to easily defeat Democrat Stacey Abrams — while Trump-endorsed Republican Herschel Walker lost his Senate race.
Headline of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … 106
That’s at least how many people have been confirmed to have died during the devastating wildfires in Maui that started last week, according to Maui County on Tuesday. The fires have burned up the historic town of Lahaina and destroyed homes and businesses.
As NBC News’ Jon Schuppe and Corky Siemaszko report, Maui residents and the hundreds of displaced families are setting up their own aid network amid frustrations over the local and federal government response.
Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden’s response to the tragedy — he didn’t answer reporters’ questions about the fires and the government response for days during his weekend vacation. But the Biden administration has pointed to the FEMA response to defend itself, and the president said he and his wife would travel to the island as soon as he can do so without getting “in the way” of the recovery.
Eyes on 2024: Georgia on their minds
Location, location, location.
Trump’s recent indictment in Georgia may seem similar to his federal indictment for 2020 election interference, but the location of his latest indictment shouldn’t be ignored — especially if Trump is the GOP nominee.
The allegations once again put the spotlight on Georgia, a key state on the path to the White House and one where Trump and the GOP have suffered a string of political losses in recent years.
So it’s no surprise that Republican operatives are telling NBC News’ Garrett Haake, Katherine Doyle, Kristen Welker and Alex Tabet that this new indictment could only add to the party’s struggles in the Peach State.
And Trump’s combative posture means there will be more to come — he’s planning to continue to re-litigate the 2020 election, this time with “A Large, Complex, Detailed but irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud” he says he’ll release at a Monday press conference in New Jersey.
In other campaign news …
Trump talk: A new Associated Press/NORC poll finds 63% of Republicans want Trump to run again, and 74% say they would support him next year if he is the GOP nominee. But the same survey finds a majority of Americans — 53% — saying they would definitely not support him in Nov. 2024. The survey, which was conducted before Trump’s indictment in Georgia, finds Americans divided along party lines over Trump’s federal indictment for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Sliding into Trump’s DMs: A newly unsealed warrant shows that federal prosecutors sought to access Trump’s Twitter account and direct messages in their election interference probe.
Ron Protect-us: Politico reports that Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ security spending by the state of Florida jumped from almost $6 million to more than $9 million over the last two fiscal years.
Republicans for Ukraine: A new group is spending $2 million on an ad campaign aimed at urging Republicans to support funding for Ukraine aid.
Also-endorsed: Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen is endorsing Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the state’s race to replace the retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.
Finances undisclosed: The New York Times reports that embattled New York Republican Rep. George Santos didn’t file his financial disclosure form by the Aug. 13 deadline.
A win for Harris County: A Texas judge blocked a new state law that would have eliminated the Harris County elections administrator, calling it unconstitutional. But the state attorney general’s office is appealing the decision.
Heating up in Kentucky: The Kentucky gubernatorial nominees just released two new ads. One from Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron criticizes Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of restrictions on transgender youth and argues he “sided with transgender protesters over protecting kids.” Beshear’s new ad features law enforcement defending his record on crime, calling him “the best governor for law enforcement.”
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world:
A former top counterterrorism agent at the FBI pleaded guilty to working for a Russian oligarch.
