Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called for the conspiracy theories surrounding him and his family to stop.
Kemp, a Republican, addressed the conspiracy theories on Thursday surrounding his daughter’s boyfriend, Harrison Deal, who died in a traffic accident earlier in December. His death, which occurred after his vehicle collided with a truck on Interstate 16, has been used by conspiracy theorists to promote baseless claims surrounding the election results.
“There is so much misinformation out there. Quite honestly, it has gotten ridiculous,” Kemp said. “Some of it, from death threats, you know, bribes from China, the social media posts that my children are getting, and look, we have the ‘no crying in politics rule’ in the Kemp house, but it is stuff if I said that I would be taken to the woodshed and would never see the light of day. It is embarrassing that someone would send something like that to a 20-year-old child that just lost the love of her life, not to mention what the Deal family is having to deal with because of the conspiracy theories that are out there.”
The Georgia governor has been a frequent target of the president and his supporters, who say he didn’t do enough to ensure that President Trump won the state’s 16 Electoral College votes.
“This needs to stop,” Kemp continued. “People need to deal with facts, and we’ll give them to them. And if anybody has an issue with something I’ve done, they need to come see me, and I’ll talk to them about it. They don’t need to bother my wife or my children or any other person that’s serving in elected office — their wife or children — because I can assure you, I can handle myself.”
One of the most prominent people spewing allegations that Deal’s death was not accidental is attorney Lin Wood. Wood, an ardent supporter of the president who has filed a handful of lawsuits in battleground states alleging fraud, has speculated that the young’s man death could have been connected to the election.
Some, Wood included, have speculated that Special Agent James O’Sullivan, 51, who died on Monday at his home, was investigating Deal’s death at the time he died. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation denied the theories, saying that there is “absolutely no truth” to them, and it pushed back on the notion that O’Sullivan’s and Deal’s deaths were connected to the election.
O’Sullivan’s death remains under investigation. Deal’s death is being investigated by the City of Pooler Police Department, but the GBI has denied reports that any of its agents are investigating the incident.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another Republican who has also been rebuked by the president, has previously said that he’s received death threats over the outcome of the election.
