Kemp to participate in Georgia fundraiser for Trump

Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is slated to participate in a Georgia fundraiser for former President Trump, two sources confirmed to The Hill, bringing in campaign funds for the GOP presidential nominee as the two look to tone down their lengthy feud. 

Kemp, who will appear alongside Georgia’s first lady Marty Kemp, will co-headline the Thursday event in Atlanta with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a person associated with the Pompeo and person familiar with Trump’s campaign plans told The Hill. 

The reception comes as the former president offered praise for Brian Kemp following the governor’s appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show last week. Kemp during that interview said the focus needed to be reelecting Trump. 

“We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House,” Kemp said. “We need to retake the Senate. We need to hold the House.”

Following the TV hit, the former president thanked Kemp.

“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 on Truth Social. “I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The former president has had a tense relationship with Kemp since the 2020 election, when Trump barely lost Georgia to President Biden.

In the weeks following the defeat, he kept applying pressure on Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to challenge the outcome, and their relationship has stayed fractured since.

In 2022, Trump supported Kemp’s primary challenger, but the governor won reelection by a wider margin than in 2018. Kemp told CNN in late June that he did not vote for Trump in the Georgia presidential primary in late May.

Earlier this month, the former president went after Kemp during a rally in Atlanta. The move made some Republicans question why Trump was not focusing more on Vice President Harris, who by that point had ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket. 

Georgia will be a key battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, Biden won it by fewer than 12,000 votes. 

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

The Thursday fundraiser is hosted by ex-Trump State Department Counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl, former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and former ambassadors Ed McMullen and Duke Buchan, according to ABC News, which first reported on the reception. 

The Hill has reached out to Kemp’s political operation spokesperson for comment.