One of the first things Donald Trump did after taking the stage in Cobb County late Tuesday would have been hard to imagine a few years ago, let alone a few weeks ago: He heaped praise on Gov. Brian Kemp.
The governor who was once atop Trump’s revenge list has “done a really good job” leading Georgia, the former president said. A few weeks earlier, they went a step further by staging an in-person photo op in the name of GOP unity.
With early voting underway in Georgia, there’s now evidence that the truce between the two is not only holding but is deepening — and that it could significantly factor into Trump’s chances of recapturing Georgia in November.
Kemp this week unleashed his political machine to make a statewide push for Trump, financed in part by a seven-figure contribution from a pro-Trump megadonor. At its center is the governor, who aims to give permission to Kemp backers who rejected Trump in 2020 to rally behind him now.
“Look, you may not like Donald Trump personally, but you’ll like his policies a lot better than Kamala Harris’,” Kemp said at a recent Republican gathering. “It’s a business decision. You’re making a business decision.”
Those split-ticket voters helped elect both Kemp and Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2022. And their revolt against the GOP ticket in 2020 propelled Joe Biden to a slim victory in Georgia.
“A lot of emotions were running hot back then,” said Bruce LeVell, a close Georgia ally of Trump. “At the end of the day, we can stay mad at each other or we can unite to win. And that shows a lot of maturity from everyone.”
Kemp’s support was in doubt after Trump’s rally in Atlanta a few weeks ago, when the former president inexplicably reawakened a dormant fight that dates to before the governor refused his demand to overturn Biden’s 2020 win in Georgia.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Trump devoted a roughly 10-minute tirade at that Aug. 3 stop to berate the governor and his wife, Marty. Kemp fired back that Trump should “leave my family out of it,” bringing back memories of Trump’s previous vitriol to oust Kemp and other Georgia Republicans he deemed disloyal.
The new wounds were patched up by late August amid urgent pleas from senior Republicans driven by the belief that Trump can’t recapture Georgia without winning over more voters who rejected him in 2020 but backed Kemp two years later.
“We’ve got the advantage,” Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon said. “It’s simply a matter of getting our voters to turn out.”
The governor needs Trump, too. Any fence-sitting could come back to haunt him in a GOP primary if Kemp runs for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or president in 2028. And if history is any guide, the former president would surely blame Kemp for his loss if the governor sat on the sidelines during the campaign.
“I don’t know what Brian wants to do for the future, but it only helps him to work with Trump,” LeVell said. “The former president will still command a big chunk of the base, and it makes sense to keep that option open.”
The governor was on a fundraising trip Tuesday, but Insurance Commissioner John King was front and center at the rally. Two years ago, King also fended off a Trump-backed challenger. And like Kemp, he also has now tied himself to the former president, even welcoming him to Georgia from the stage of the Cobb Energy Center.
“This is not about peoples’ feelings,” King said Wednesday. “This is about the country. This is about the state of Georgia. You know what? I appreciate the support of President Trump, but this is bigger than feelings. This is about what’s at stake.”
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