Gov. Brian Kemp: How to Stand up to Corporate Pressure

On June 8th, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp joined Merion West editor-in-chief Erich Prince to discuss which policies he has made a priority during his past two-and-a-half years in office. In Mr. Prince’s view, despite the national press’ frequent attention to Governor Kemp, much focus has rested on his 2018 election victory against Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, as well as the 2020 presidential election that took place during his tenure. In the process, the actual specifics of his time in office have arguably been obscured. As such, in this interview, Governor Kemp and Mr. Prince discuss the Governor’s recent efforts to keep critical race theory out of Georgia schools, the recent election law he signed, his sometimes contentious relationship with big business, and, finally, what he hopes to prioritize between now and the 2022 gubernatorial election. (Governor Kemp also joined Merion West for interviews in August of 2019 and in January of 2018, in the latter case while still a candidate for the office.)

Governor Kemp, good to speak with you again. I enjoyed meeting with you back in the summer of 2019, so happy to be chatting with you again.

Good afternoon, Erich. Same here.

I have a working theory: There has been so much attention to the various elections that you’ve been involved in or have taken place during your tenure that there’s not been as much focus on what you’ve actually been working on as governor, so hopefully we can take a moment today to discuss some of the things you’ve actually focused on during your time in office.