Perdue says he 'misunderstood' when he gave thumbs up to Trump supporters calling for Georgia governor to be jailed

• David Perdue said he accidentally gave a thumbs-up to supporters chanting for a rival to be jailed.

• He says didn't think the "lock him up" chants were about his rival, David Kemp.

• Perdue has based his campaign around Donald Trump's election fraud "Big Lie."

Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue said he only accidentally gave a thumbs up to Trump supporters chanting for his rival in the race, Brian Kemp, to be locked up.

At a rally held by former President Donald Trump in Commerce, Georgia, Perdue had attacked Kemp, pushing conspiracy theories that he plotted to deprive Trump of victory in the state in 2020.

Kemp has come under repeated attack from Trump and his allies since refusing to bend to Trump's demand to subvert Joe Biden's victory in November 2020.

Perdue at the rally called for those "responsible for that fraud in 2020 go to jail", and the crowd started chanting "lock him up" about Kemp, using a longtime Trump rally slogan.

Kemp then smiled and gave the thumbs up, as if approving the chant.

But in remarks Tuesday Perdue sought to clarify the gesture, remarking that he thought the crowd was chanting "lock them up," without referring to any specific person.

"I really thought they were saying lock them up," Perdue told reporters. He said he believed "them" to be "the people responsible" for robbing him and Trump of their electoral wins in 2020, without naming anybody.

Perdue served as a US senator until January 2021, when he lost a special election to Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff.

Some observers blamed Trump's claims the election in the state had been rigged for depressing GOP turnout, helping to ensure Perdue's defeat and clinching the Democrats a narrow Senate majority.

Perdue, who has been endorsed by Trump, was as of late March currently trailing Kemp in the polls.

The former president has endorsed a slew of candidates seeking to unseat Republicans who have opposed his election-fraud conspiracy theories.

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