Former President Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appeared together in public for the first time in years Friday, putting aside smoldering tensions and discussing how Hurricane Helen has devastated the state. I emphasized that I did it.
The two leaders toured storm-damaged sites in the Evans area, met with local officials and families, and offered support to those affected by the storm. Trump also attacked Kemp in August, but had kind words for the governor as he talked about recovery efforts.
“The governor is doing a great job, that's what I want to say,” President Trump said in front of piles of supplies such as diapers, bottled water and paper towels.
Asked specifically about the state of his relationship with Kemp, Trump said it was “great.”
“We work together. We've always worked very well together,” he said.
Republicans are keen for Trump and Kemp to smooth things over, given Georgia's importance to the November election. Trump narrowly lost the state in 2020, and polls show him in a close race with Vice President Harris in the state.
The former president spent the weeks after the 2020 election put pressure on kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) objected to the results.
Mr. Trump supported Mr. Kemp's primary challenger in 2022, former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), but Mr. Kemp defeated him and won the general election by a larger margin than in 2018. .
Mr. Trump repeatedly attacked Mr. Kemp at a rally in Atlanta in August, and Republicans wondered why Mr. Kemp had not given more attention to Ms. Harris, who had recently emerged as the top Democratic candidate.
Kemp told CNN that although he supported Trump in the general election, he did not vote for Trump in Georgia's presidential primary in late May.
Friday's visit will be President Trump's second visit to Georgia this week to inspect storm damage. He traveled to Valdosta on Monday but did not join up with Kemp.
Kemp told reporters Friday that at least 33 Georgians died as a direct result of Hurricane Helen, and the storm wiped out much of the state's agricultural crops.
President Trump has touted his efforts to encourage Elon Musk to provide Starlink satellites to help restore communications in hard-hit areas, and has encouraged prominent business leaders such as Larry Ellison and Steve Witkoff to He cited donations from his home to support reconstruction efforts.
The former president attacked the Biden administration's response to Helen as “terrible” and repeated false claims that have become prominent in the Republican Party that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent disaster relief money to help migrants. Ta.
The White House earlier Friday called the claims “toxic” and said they would hinder ongoing recovery efforts and prevent people in need from getting the help they need.
Earlier this week, Kemp expressed gratitude for the federal government's role in the response to Hurricane Helen, but on Monday echoed Trump's comments that the governor had difficulty communicating with Biden. was contradictory.
