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Gov. Kemp responds to Trump's comments, says law prohibits him from 'interfering' in election

The Georgia governor said the Secretary of State "has oversight over elections that cannot be overridden by executive order."

ATLANTA — A day after going on national television to say he was "ashamed" he endorsed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to say "the hapless Governor of Georgia" should use his "emergency powers" in the election that went Joe Biden's way

He said in the Tweet that it "can be easily done, to overrule his obstinate Secretary of State, and do a match of signatures on envelopes."

Meanwhile, Kemp's office said otherwise. In a statement to 11Alive, his office said “Georgia law prohibits the Governor from interfering in elections."

"The Secretary of State, who is an elected constitutional officer, has oversight over elections that cannot be overridden by executive order," the statement went on to say.

Trump said that if they would check the signatures on the envelopes, which is impossible to do at this point, it would be a “goldmine” of fraud, and we will easily WIN the state."

Twitter flagged the Tweets on Monday stating: "The claim about election fraud is disputed." 

"Georgia Republicans are angry, all Republicans are angry. Get it done!" Trump went on to Tweet.

The Republican governor has repeatedly said "he will continue to follow the law and encourage the Secretary of State to take reasonable steps - including a sample audit of signatures - to restore trust and address serious issues that have been raised,” the statement read.

Following Election Day, a hand-tally audit of the presidential race in Georgia was conducted, and the results affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s lead over Republican President Donald Trump. The final vote margin between the two was 12,284 votes.

The hand recount of nearly 5 million votes stemmed from an audit required by new state law and wasn’t in response to any suspected problems with the state’s results or an official recount request. 

Shortly following the conclusion of the audit, a federal judge, appointed just last year by President Trump, rejected the president's campaign efforts to block the certification of Georgia's election.

Days later, the Trump campaign requested the recount - something candidates are allowed to do in Georgia when they are within a .5% margin.

The Secretary of State, who is a Republican and came out saying he voted for Trump, continues to debunk the president's claims of voting fraud in Georgia. 

He is expected to be in the state on Saturday to support Sens. David Purdue and Kelly Loeffler. Some Republicans feel that this attention could hurt their party in the January runoffs.

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