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This week, Georgia's Republican Governor—Brian Kemp—appeared on the conservative Fox News network to discuss his agenda for the state and the direction of the United States as a whole.
Kemp has faced constant backlash from Democrats in years past due to his handling of Georgia's 2018 gubernatorial election as Secretary of State—an election in which he was also a candidate. After purging hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters from voter rolls, Kemp narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.
More recently, Kemp has become a favorite villain of the right, in no small part thanks to former President Donald Trump's attacks on Kemp for not somehow overturning Georgia's results in the 2020 election, which saw Trump become the first Republican presidential candidate to lose the state since 1992.
With Kemp largely friendless in both parties, the Governor attempted to wax patriotically about the United States on Fox News, but ended up tongue-tied instead.
Watch below.
Georgia Governor @BrianKempGA knows America is the "Land of the Home"! For now it is! https://t.co/Y8qVdMJZ4b— KevinlyFather 🇺🇲🇨🇦🇲🇼🇸🇿 (@KevinlyFather 🇺🇲🇨🇦🇲🇼🇸🇿) 1622074144.0
In an apparent attempt to say America was the "land of the free and the home of the brave," Kemp ended up saying:
"It is America, the land of the home and freedom reigns"
Everyone flubs phrases occasionally, but what made Kemp's flub stand out is that it happened on Fox News, where personalities on the network have frequently highlighted even the most innocuous of gaffes from President Joe Biden, using them to claim he's unfit for office.
The network published a video last year featuring Biden's "best teleprompter gaffes of 2020." Fox's The Five dedicated a whole segment to Biden accidentally saying 85 thousand Americans were out of work—instead of 850 thousand—during a speech. And the network had a field day when he mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as "President Harris." Some of the network's hosts have also denied that Biden's stutter plays a role in this—or that he even has a stutter in the first place.
People imagined how Fox would've reacted if Biden made a gaffe similar to Kemp's.
Republicans love to make fun of Biden’s stutter, while they can’t even coherently complete sentences. Like this wor… https://t.co/PlLs6jp3qz— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1622075417.0
So you'll clown @POTUS for stuttering, when Brian Kemp can't speak at the level of a 5th grader? F*ck outta here. https://t.co/PJgDft1wti— DJ FM® (@DJ FM®) 1622190589.0
They talk about Biden and his speech impediments but this right here? C'mon Brian Kemp... https://t.co/UF9dTCYAkn— Ryon Rodgers (@Ryon Rodgers) 1622086898.0
@KevinlyFather @Acyn @BrianKempGA Bruh if this was Biden, Fox News would run with it for a year— Ares (@Ares) 1622075350.0
I was told reliably that this means Brian Kemp has dementia. https://t.co/IlR9YGzHBZ— Ares (@Ares) 1622075369.0
If Fox News wouldn't mock Kemp, social media users did it themselves.
@KevinlyFather @Acyn @BrianKempGA Yep, the land of the home, and the best earth in the whole world.— President Rufus T. Firefly (@President Rufus T. Firefly) 1622075167.0
@KevinlyFather @BrianKempGA Same vibe https://t.co/5LMQacy846— Space Laser Operator.BOT (@Space Laser Operator.BOT) 1622076062.0
@KevinlyFather @BrianKempGA Well there aren't any brave people in the GOP. Easy to understand why he'd get caught up there— James Wilson (@James Wilson) 1622074264.0
Awkward.