Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is appearing with former President Donald Trump for the first time since Trump sought to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
Trump is visiting the state to survey damage caused by Hurricane Helene and is being briefed by local officials along with Kemp. Trump thanked Kemp, and said he’s doing a very good job managing the fallout from the storm.
Trump was asked if he has concerns about voting in the state, given the hurricane’s impact.
“I’m worried about the people, not the vote,” Trump responded. “I’m worried about the people, a lot of people missing. It’s a bad one. This was a bad one, bad storm, maybe the worst.”
Asked about his relationship with Kemp, Trump said, “It’s great. It’s great.”
Evan Vucci / AP
Kemp endorsed Trump in August, despite yearslong tension between the two after Kemp refused his push for a special legislative session to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election, which Trump lost to President Biden. He did not vote for Trump or any candidate in Georgia’s primary, however. The former president publicly berated Kemp and state election officials, and in a January 2021 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, told Raffensberger to “find 11,780” votes — the margin of his loss in Georgia — according to audio obtained by CBS News.
Both Fulton County, Georgia, and special counsel Jack Smith have separately indicted Trump, accusing him of seeking to overturn the election results in the state. Trump denies all wrongdoing. Raffensperger stated that Georgia had accurately counted the votes, that the election’s integrity had not been violated and that Mr. Biden had won Georgia.
Trump was reluctant to abandon his feud with Kemp, disparaging him as “Little Brian Kemp” at an Atlanta rally before the endorsement and calling Kemp and his wife disloyal. Kemp responded on X.
Kemp has ultimately chosen a different route than his lieutenant governor at the time, Geoff Duncan. Duncan, also a staunch Republican, is not only voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, but endorsed her in a speech at the Democratic National Convention, urging other Republicans to follow his lead.
“To my fellow Republicans at home that want to pivot back toward policy, empathy and tone, you know the right thing to do, now let’s have the courage to do it in November,” Duncan said at the DNC in Chicago.
“In our family, my wife, Brooke, and I are raising three boys and we have a family motto,” Duncan said at the DNC. “And it says, ‘Doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing.’ During 2020, during just the lowest of lows when we had armed officers outside our house protecting us from other Republicans, Donald Trump had targeted us. My son came downstairs and he handed me this coaster that I had given him years before at a father-son retreat for our church. And he said, ‘Hey dad, doing the right thing will never be the wrong thing. Stay strong.'”
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