March 25 (Reuters) - In a test of his enduring influence over the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump returned to Georgia on Saturday to stump for allies who support his ongoing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him - starting with Georgia.
At a rally in Commerce, a small city northeast of Atlanta, Trump spent the first 20 minutes of his speech repeating falsehoods about the outcome, calling Governor Brian Kemp, a fellow Republican, a "turncoat" and "coward" for failing to reverse the results.
Trump has invested significant political capital in the state, endorsing a slate of statewide candidates in an effort to oust Kemp and his allies. The May 24 primary election will provide perhaps the clearest assessment yet of Trump's ability to play kingmaker in the 2022 elections.
It will also offer an early measure of how Republican candidates attempt to strike a balance between Trump's obsession with the 2020 election and national Republican leaders' preference to focus on President Joe Biden's record in office.
"This is a really hard test for him – and a crucial one," said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. "Trump is still well liked by Republican voters, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to base their choice in a primary on his endorsement."
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