Former President Donald Trump appears to have a falling out with Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday, as the two former enemies are scheduled to appear together for the first time since 2020.
According to President Biden's campaign, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kemp, who have been at odds sporadically since President Biden won the 2020 Peach State election, were briefed on the damage caused by Hurricane Helen and addressed the press. He plans to visit Evans, Georgia, to do so. .
The trip will be President Trump's second visit to storm-ravaged Georgia this week.
The 45th president surveyed storm damage in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday and met with local officials and first responders.
The state is one of seven swing states in the 2024 presidential election cycle.
The battle between Trump and Kemp began shortly after the 2020 election, when the governor refused to call a special legislative session to overturn the state's election results.
In a post-election interview with Fox News, President Trump declared that he was “ashamed” to have supported Kemp in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary.
“I understand why he's frustrated,” Kemp told Mr. T.atlanta journal constitution At the time, he ignored the former president's anger. “He's a fighter.”
Mr. Trump then call kemp “Idiot” and “clown”.
The former president continued to support the former senator. David Perdue (R-Ga.) aims to oust Kemp from office in 2022.
“Brian Kemp is a traitor, a coward, and an utter disaster,” President Trump said at a Purdue rally in March 2022.
“Before we can defeat the Democrats, the socialists, the communists, we must first defeat the RINO sellouts and the losers of this spring's primaries,” he added, calling Kemp a “Republican in name only.” is.
President Trump's Political Action Committee spent over $3 million An attempt to oust Kemp from the governor's mansion failed. Purdue lost to Kemp by 52 percentage points.
In 2023, President Trump's third White House campaign is underway. kemp claimed During a Republican National Committee training camp in Nashville, Trump openly criticized the former president, saying, “If we're going to talk about the 2020 election being stolen, not a single free-floating voter will vote for our candidate.'' Deaf,” he said.
In September of that year, Kemp called former President Trump “the loser of the night” when he refused to appear at the first Republican presidential primary debate.
“I just think, 'If I'm as good as I say I am, I'm going to step up to the plate, answer the questions, fight tooth and nail, and get it done,'” the governor said at the time. “Look, I'm not saying that just because I fought President Trump. He's mad at me. I'm not mad at him, but that's how I think. is.”
Just before the debate, Kemp dismissed the idea that the Legislature would call a special session to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after a grand jury indicted her just weeks ago.
In early 2024, Kemp declined to say whether he voted for Trump in Georgia's presidential primary, but expressed support for the former president if he became the Republican nominee.
“I think he's better than Joe Biden. It's that simple” Kemp told reporters.
In August, Trump again slammed Kemp during a rally in Atlanta.
“He's a bad guy. He's a dishonest guy. And he's a very average governor,” Trump said.
“Little Brian, little Brian Kemp. Bad guy,” he added, raising eyebrows from onlookers given Georgia's importance to winning the presidential election.
That same month, Trump also used Truth Social to go after Kemp and the governor's wife.
“Neither he nor his wife thought he could win,” Trump wrote of the 2018 gubernatorial race. “I said, 'I'm telling you you're going to win.' And he won, he was happy, and his wife said, 'Thank you, we'll never be able to make it up to you. Yo!’ Now she doesn’t support me and says she’s going to ‘write under Brian Kemp’s name. Well, I don't want her support and I don't want his support either. They're the ones who got Fanny Willis and her boyfriend all “jazzed up” and ready to go. He could have ended the farce over the phone, but he doesn't want it to end because he's a bad guy…”
Kemp replied“Don't do that to my family,” he said in a post to he claimed.
Tensions eased later that month when the Republican governor praised Trump in an interview with Sean Hannity.
“We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House,” Kemp said.
The former president called Kemp's words “very, very good” and told Fox News that he thought he would “have a very good relationship with Brian Kemp.”
President Trump later posted on Truth Social: “Thank you #BrianKempGA for your help and support in the state of Georgia, where a victory is critical to the success of our party and most importantly, our country.” is important,” he wrote.
“I look forward to working with you, your team, and our friends in Georgia to make America great again,” he added.
