WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Despite President Donald Trump's continued public animus towards Gov. Brian Kemp, it didn't stop the governor from attending a White House Christmas party on Friday night.
On the same day the president referred to Gov. Kemp as a "so-called Republican" in a tweet, the governor later tweeted out photos of himself and his daughter Lucy in Washington.
The post inflamed die-hard supporters of the president's, who despite the election outcome believe he has won and will, in some course, serve a second term.
One such comment came from one of the president's attorneys who has worked on the election fraud cases that have been filed in a failed effort to overturn the election. Jenna Ellis wrote: "Seriously?" in reply to the governor's tweet.
The tweet had nearly 8,000 replies to 2,700 retweets and 3,600 likes, a ratio that generally indicates many negative comments were left in response.
President Trump has hosted a number of Christmas parties this month, and it's not clear if he actually attended this one personally.
According to a widely-shared anecdote out of a New York Times article published Friday, the president remains upset enough with Kemp and Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger that he decided against a trip to Georgia this weekend, which would have been to campaign with Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue for their Jan. 5 runoff races.
Trump's parties have faced criticism for drawing dozens of people indoors, often seemingly without much use of masks. The White House has countered that, "You can celebrate the holiday of Christmas, and you can do it responsibly."
One such large White House gathering earlier this year, for the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, was held outdoors and traced to the spread of COVID-19 cases in a number of top Republicans.
On Twitter, the governor's communications director, Cody Hall, said Kemp and his daughter wore masks while they were there except to take pictures, and that seating was spaced out with staggered attendance times for smaller groups.