CNN Reported yesterday that both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence called Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Tuesday night and expressed support for his decision to quickly reopen the state's economy before they publicly opposed the decision on Wednesday evening.
According to the Associated Press, Trump's treachery is even worse than previously reported.
Kemp talked to Trump and Pence before he made the announcement, not just after.
The green light from Pence and Trump came in separate private conversations with the Republican governor both before Kemp announced his plan to ease coronavirus restrictions and after it was unveiled on Monday, the officials said. [...]
“I told the governor of Georgia Brian Kemp that I disagree strongly with his decision to open certain facilities,” Trump said Wednesday, just a day after telling reporters that he trusted Kemp’s judgment. “He knows what’s he’s doing.”
On Thursday, he was even harder on the governor: “I wasn’t happy with Brian Kemp, I wasn’t at all happy.”
If Kemp had even an ounce of dignity, he would hold a press conference and tell the public that Trump told him to reopen the state's economy before he made the decision, but he doesn't and he won't. For whatever reason, Republicans are more than willing to prostrate themselves for Trump even as he humiliates them; even as he doesn't give them a single reason to remain loyal.
The political party that brands themselves as a party of tough guys who ain't afraid of no ghosts (or viruses) won't even stand up for themselves.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that members of Governor Kemp's own coronavirus task force did not know about his decision to reopen the state's economy until it had already been announced, but the White House reportedly knew about it beforehand.
Some businesses are allowed to reopen in the state of Georgia as of today, but it remains to be seen how many will actually do so. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms is publicly urging people to stay home, but she cannot put the force of law behind it. It's Kemp's decision.
Everyone who works with Trump is eventually humiliated.