Trump's circle is convinced that losing in the Georgia primaries actually proves them right, source says

• Trump and his allies see a big consolation in their loss in Georgia, a source told Insider.
• Trump's candidates failed to beat incumbents — sworn enemies of Trump — in recent primaries.

Former President Donald Trump's allies have found a way to count the big losses in Georgia for his endorsed candidates as a kind of victory, a source told Insider.

The source said those around Trump felt OK about David Perdue and Jody Hice failing to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, a victory widely taken as a sign Trump's grip on the party is incomplete.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Trump was initially "stunned" by Raffensperger's victory. But, per Insider's source, who asked for anonymity to frankly describe the discussions, that did not last.

Instead, he said, Trump allies are attributing Kemp's victory to his focus on so-called "election integrity" — efforts to tighten voter eligibility, citing the risk of fraud.

Kemp signed into law a sweeping package of changes to Georgia's voting system in 2021, despite pitched opposition from Democrats who assailed the changes as voter suppression and "Jim Crow in the 21st century."

The Trump source said that Trump and his circle attributed victory to that piece of legislation.

"Had both Kemp and Raffensberger not worked to strengthen the voter integrity of the Georgia law, they probably both would have been on the chopping block," the source said.

Although the Georgia law tightened voting rules, Kemp and Raffensperger were among the fiercest opponents of Trump's claim that there was fraud in the 2020 election, which the two men oversaw in Georgia.

Both declined to help Trump despite heavy pressure to support his claim that fraud changed the result in Georgia, which voted for Joe Biden to become president over Trump.

Others have given different reasons for Kemp's victory, including sources who told The Washington Post that Trump blames Perdue personally and considers him "lazy."

Politico gave an insider account of Kemp's victory, noting that challenging incumbents has traditionally been a struggle and that Trump's endorsement was Perdue's only real advantage in the race.

It describe how Kemp worked to isolate Perdue from potential allies and convince would-be financial backers not to support him, leaving Perdue starved of the political operation he needed for victory.