Donald Trump returned to Georgia on Tuesday for his first campaign stop there since ending his public crusade last month against the state’s Republican governor.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, however, didn’t make it to Trump’s rally in Savannah.
Instead, Kemp was fundraising this week for other Republican causes, including Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, and for a group run by Trump’s former vice president turned nemesis, Mike Pence.
Ahead of Trump’s rally in Savannah, the governor spent two days participating in a donor retreat for Pence’s political nonprofit, Advancing American Freedom, according to a person with knowledge of the event and granted anonymity to describe it. The gathering was held in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, where Kemp and Georgia’s first lady, Marty Kemp, attended a dinner with donors on Sunday and held respective fireside chats Monday with Pence and his wife, Karen Pence.
Kemp and Pence have long been friends, and Pence visited Georgia to campaign for Kemp during a 2022 Republican primary race against former Sen. David Perdue, the Trump-backed candidate Kemp ultimately drubbed. The two remained in touch as Pence ran against Trump in the Republican presidential primary last year, according to the person with information about Kemp’s involvement with the Pence retreat this week.
On Tuesday, Kemp traveled to Pennsylvania to campaign for McCormick, and was set to appear with him at fundraisers and a campaign stop. The events set for Tuesday in Pennsylvania had been planned weeks before Trump’s campaign announced a rally the same day in Georgia.
As Trump gave a speech in Savannah on Tuesday focused on economic policy — uncharacteristically staying on message throughout it — he briefly praised Kemp, the popular GOP governor who just last month Trump publicly called “a bad guy” and referred to as “Little Brian Kemp.” But Trump, facing pressure from allies not to blow his chances of winning the critical swing state of Georgia, soon pivoted to publicly thanking Kemp for his work to achieve a Republican victory in the state. Allies of the two men had frantically worked to establish a truce ahead of the election.
“I also want to thank Governor Kemp,” Trump reiterated on Tuesday, despite Kemp not being in the audience. “He's been fantastic. He really has been fantastic. We are going to get this done. But I want to thank governor Kemp for his support. Great support."
Trump earlier this year expressed private irritation about Kemp not attending his events and fundraisers in the state. Trump was also perturbed that Kemp’s wife had told a local television reporter this spring that she planned to write Kemp’s name in for president on the ballot this fall, when asked if she would vote for Trump. But since last month, Trump has maintained his newfound positive comments about Kemp.
Kemp, for his part, appeared at an Aug. 29 fundraiser for Trump in Atlanta co-headlined by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And Kemp pleased Trump, according to those close to the former president, when he said during a Fox News hit last month that “We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House,” though Kemp has publicly stated throughout the cycle that he would work to get GOP candidates elected up and down the ticket, including whoever became the Republican presidential nominee.
Irie Sentner contributed to this report.
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