Georgia gov race: Gov. Kemp, David Perdue shout and throw ‘spaghetti’ in fiery Republican debate

Georgia gubernatorial candidate and former Sen. David Perdue and incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp pulled no punches in attacking each other Thursday night in a debate for the Republican Party nomination for governor.

In the final debate before early voting begins May 2, the two Republican candidates sparred over familiar issues like the handling of the 2020 election, former President Trump’s endorsement, crime in Georgia, and who had the better plans to stave off economic pain from record-high inflation.

Each candidate returned to familiar lines of attack related to the 2020 election, with Perdue charging that Kemp had divided the Republican Party and lost the trust of voters.

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“People have lost confidence in you, and confidence in the voting system. You won’t own up to the fact that you actually certified the election, governor, without investigation,” Perdue said.

“Lord of mercy, there’s a lot of spaghetti being thrown on the wall,” Kemp responded, adding that the FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigations and his own office had conducted investigations.

Kemp stridently defended his record and expressed exasperation at Perdue’s statements. “Senator Perdue is lying about my record because he doesn’t have one of his own,” Kemp said, a phrase he repeated numerous times throughout the hour-long debate.

Perdue accused Kemp of violating his oath of office by suppressing claims of voter fraud after the 2020 election, and blamed the governor for his own loss to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the January 2021 special election.

Perdue insisted that he won the special election by 90,000 votes, to which Kemp responded: “If you beat Jon Ossoff, why are you not a U.S….