For years Bill White picked fights with some of Georgia’s top elected Republicans, going so far as to say some should be prosecuted for failing to help President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election.
On Tuesday, White had to answer for some of those statements at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is considering his nomination to be Trump’s ambassador to Belgium. While his confirmation is not in doubt, White recanted his suggestion that Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger be prosecuted.
Sen. Tim Kaine, who ran against Trump as the Democrats’ 2016 vice presidential nominee, asked White about the statements during Tuesday’s hearing. They came in social media posts last summer, nearly four years after Trump used false allegations of voting fraud to try to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Kaine said the committee must consider nominees’ “judgment and ability to be a diplomat.” He asked White why the Senate should confirm “somebody who falls for conspiracy theories that most fourth graders would find unbelievable.”
“Convince me that you’ve got the judgment to be an ambassador,” Kaine said.
White responded that he did not recall the posts, but he said he was in Georgia in 2020 and there were “substantial irregularities” in the election.
Federal and state investigators did find some problems with the election, but the investigations found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have affected the outcome of the election. The results were confirmed by two recounts.
When Kaine asked whether White still believed Kemp and Raffensperger should be criminally prosecuted, White responded, “No I don’t.”
It was a noteworthy exchange that underscores White’s combative role in recent Georgia politics. He moved to the state in 2018 and quickly established himself as an influential voice in Republican politics.
Following the 2020 election, White helped raise money to bankroll Trump’s unsuccessful challenge of Biden’s narrow victory here.
After the election, White became the most prominent advocate for founding a new city out of Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. That effort failed in the General Assembly in 2023, and White accused Gov. Brian Kemp of undermining that effort in a “shady, sleazy, backdoor kind of way.”
He later moved to Florida.
Trump chose White to be ambassador to Belgium last December. The president called White “a highly respected businessman, philanthropist, author and advocate” for the military and veterans.
On Tuesday, White pledged to advance Trump’s trade agenda in Belgium; to encourage the country to increase its defense spending as a NATO member; and to work with the Belgians to counter illegal immigration, narcotics and transnational crime.
White got a warm reception from Republicans on the committee.
“You’re going to do a great job,” Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, told him.
Trump has pressed the Senate to speed up confirmation of his nominees to various posts. Though no vote has been scheduled, Tuesday’s hearing was a sign that White’s confirmation could come soon.
Staff writer Tia Mitchell contributed to this report
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