Trump and Georgia Gov. Kemp use hurricane recovery to make first 2024 appearance together

EVANS, Ga. (AP) — After making up privately, Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp used the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to put their détente on public display, with the former president praising a fellow Republican he blistered just months ago and promising to treat the state well if he returns to the White House.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and Kemp, a popular second-term governor, appeared outside Augusta to tout recovery efforts after Helene made landfall in Florida and wrought widespread damage as it moved inland through Georgia and other states.

”I want to thank President Trump for coming back to our state a second time … and keeping the national focus on our state as we recover,” Kemp said, speaking as Trump stood silently over his right shoulder, both of them surrounded by water, paper products, diapers and other relief supplies.

The appearance in the town of Evans involved none of the vitriol that has defined the two Republicans’ relationship since November 2020, when Trump insisted falsely that he defeated Democrat Joe Biden and chided Kemp for refusing to help him overturn the result.

Kemp and Trump met privately before addressing reporters. Trump was accompanied on the trip by his top campaign advisers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who is his handpicked Republican National Committee co-chair.

Once in front of cameras, Trump said Kemp is doing a “fantastic job,” and he extolled the storm response in Georgia. The former president seemingly contradicted his praise, however, by later repeating his false assertions that Biden’s administration has been flat-footed and left affected states to suffer.

Earlier this week in Valdosta, Trump even claimed that Biden had not spoken to Kemp at all. In a separate appearance, Kemp confirmed that Biden called him personally and offered whatever assistance Georgia might need.

“I missed him and called him right back and he just said ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, you know, we’ve got what we need, we’ll work through the federal process,” Kemp said of Biden. “He offered if there are other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.”

In Evans on Friday, Kemp did not take questions from reporters, ensuring he would not have to contradict Trump while standing beside him. The governor left the pavilion where they spoke by the time Trump began taking questions and repeating his criticisms of Biden.

Kemp did, during his remarks, note that the federal government has approved all of his recommended disaster declarations for Georgia counties — the legal step required for federal reimbursement to cover the storm response. Kemp said he expected more counties will be added to the list.

After Trump departed, National Guard service members were seen dismantling the display of supplies that served as the backdrop for the governor and former president.

As recently as August, Trump used social media posts and an Atlanta rally to accuse Kemp of “fighting Unity and the Republican Party” and criticizing Georgia first lady Marty Kemp for saying she planned to write in her husband’s name on her presidential ballot. Kemp had been saying for months that he would support “the Republican ticket,” but without naming Trump specifically.

That spectacle raised concerns among Republicans in Georgia and nationally that GOP dissension would lead to a repeat of 2020, when Biden won the state by fewer than 12,000 votes out of 5 million cast.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Trump’s running mate JD Vance helped negotiate a detente, with Kemp finally stating in a cable news interview that he supported Trump’s comeback bid and Trump, in turn, praising the governor on social media. Not long after, Vance and Kemp spoke at a Faith & Freedom Coalition gala in Georgia and met privately backstage.

During his speech at the dinner, Kemp did explicitly call for returning Trump to the White House. But he still spent most of his argument criticizing Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris rather than extolling Trump.

Marty Kemp, meanwhile, did not appear Friday with her husband and the former president.