On Thursday, former President Donald Trump surprised many by mending fences with Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA). In a notable shift from his previous criticism, Trump praised Kemp for his leadership in Georgia on social media, which marked a dramatic change from the years of attacks and disparagement Trump directed at Kemp for his refusal to aid in overturning the 2020 election results. Earlier, Kemp had told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he supports Trump and is committed to ensuring that Georgia’s 16 electoral votes go to the Republicans.
“We gotta win,” Kemp told Hannity. “We gotta win from the top of the ticket on down. We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House. We need to retake the Senate. We need to hold the House.” Just a year ago, or even a few weeks back, the idea of mutual respect between Kemp and Trump would have seemed improbable to many Republicans in Georgia. Trump had backed a primary challenger against Kemp in 2022, but Kemp triumphed with nearly 74% of the vote, the Washington Examiner noted.
More recently, Kemp scolded the former president for resorting to “petty personal insults” about his wife in a Truth Social post on Aug. 3, in which Trump said, “I don’t want her Endorsement and I don’t want his.” Kemp warned Trump to stop “attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past,” and “leave my family out of it.” The impact of the easing tensions between Trump and Kemp on Republican chances in Georgia remains uncertain. The governor could leverage his extensive political network to boost GOP turnout, but currently, Kemp’s organization is focused on just a few state legislative races.
However, Republicans have welcomed it; they were concerned that the feud could sabotage a state that is winnable for Trump. “A unified party in Georgia has a much better chance of winning. Sounds obvious, but it wasn’t totally obvious to Trump until last night,” said Republican strategist John Feehery, who called the warm words “good enough.” He told the Examiner: “What changed is Trump is now sympatico with Kemp, which I think makes Kemp a more credible messenger to Trump supporters in Georgia.”
Some Republicans are questioning why it took Trump so long to recognize that a rift with a swing state governor could hurt his prospects in November, especially with Vice President Kamala Harris closing the gap. After winning Georgia by over 211,000 votes in 2016, Trump lost it to Joe Biden by just under 12,000 votes in 2020. The latest RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump with only a narrow 1-point lead over Harris. “Georgia Republicans have learned the lesson before that Trump’s attack-anybody-even-my-own-side style can cost them seats,” Doug Heye, a former spokesman for the Republican National Convention, told the Examiner. “Not doing that should be blindingly obvious, but not with Trump.”
Alec Poitevint, a former Georgia Republican Party chairman who works with Kemp’s political group, stated that Trump had until the fall to repair the relationship. “There’s a historical basis about elections that say that once you get past Labor Day, you need to have things in order. And I think what’s going on here is, Republicans in Georgia, we’re getting our house in order,” said Poitevint, who told the outlet that he heard about a “positive approach” to Kemp and Trump’s relationship last week and received official word of the make-up on Monday before the pair publicly extended the olive branch on Thursday. “I can assure you that having the Trump organization and the Kemp organization working together creates a real problem for Democrats because we can deliver Georgia with that combination,” Poitevint noted further.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.