Pence breaks ranks with Trump, supports rival in Georgia's Republican primary

In a public – and incredibly pointed – rebuke to former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence on Monday campaigned for one of his former running-mate’s antagonists in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary and urging voters not to dwell on the past.

"Elections are about the future. There are those who want to make this election about the past," Pence told a crowd of Republican voters. "When you say yes to Governor Brian Kemp tomorrow, you will send a deafening message all across America that the Republican Party is the party of the future."

Although Pence did not directly criticize – or even mention – Trump during his speech in support of incumbent Brian Kemp, his decision to publicly support one of the former president’s rivals has been met with ire from many conservatives, Yahoo News reported.

Tensions have been high between Trump and Kemp since Kemp refused to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election after officials announced that President Biden became the first Democrat to carry Georgia since Bill Clinton’s landslide victory in 1992.

In the aftermath, Trump recruited former Sen. David Perdue to challenge Kemp in Tuesday’s GOP primary.  

Perdue is one of Trump’s highest-profile endorsees, but recent polls have shown Kemp maintaining a comfortable lead ahead of Tuesday’s election.

"We're in a fight for the soul of our state. We cannot take tomorrow for granted," Kemp said on Monday. He touted his ending of business closures during the coronavirus pandemic and backing of restrictive voting laws and curbs on access to abortion.

Following the Kemp-Pence rally, Trump called into a Perdue event – attempting to rally voters into supporting his candidate at the polls.

"David is the only candidate who can beat Stacey Abrams because I don't believe Kemp can do it. He's got too many people in the Republican Party that will refuse to vote," Trump said.