Trump, Georgia Gov. Kemp exchange praise after lengthy rift

Former President Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) seemingly tried Thursday to put their lengthy feud in the rearview mirror ahead of November’s election.

Kemp went on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, a favorite program of the former president, and said the focus needed to be on putting Trump back in the White House.

“We gotta win. We gotta win from the top of the ticket on down,” Kemp said. “We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House. We need to retake the Senate. We need to hold the House.”

Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after Kemp’s appearance on Fox News to express his approval.

“Thank you to #BrianKempGA for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country,” Trump posted. “I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not respond to questions about when the two last spoke.

Trump has held a grudge against Kemp dating back to the 2020 election. The former president narrowly lost the Peach State to President Biden and spent the weeks following the election pressuring Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to challenge the results.

The relationship between the two men has remained tense.

Trump supported a primary challenger against Kemp in 2022, but Kemp defeated him, former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), and won the general election by a wider margin than he did in 2018.

Kemp told CNN he did not vote for Trump in Georgia’s presidential primary in late May, though he has endorsed Trump in the general election.

Trump repeatedly attacked Kemp at an Atlanta rally earlier this month, leaving Republicans scratching their heads as to why he wasn’t focused more on Vice President Harris, who had recently risen to the top of the Democratic ticket.

Georgia will be a key battleground state once again this November. Biden won the state in 2020 by fewer than 12,000 votes.

A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls of the state showed Trump leading Harris by roughly 3 percentage points.