Former President Donald Trump and Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp Met face to face for the first time on Friday Since the pair split over Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him — a source close to the GOP candidate told The Post the meeting was the final step in a “thaw” between the two men.
Kemp, 60, joined Trump, 78, to get a briefing on the damage. The Peach State was impacted by Hurricane Helen.,
The two had not seen each other in nearly four years after Trump ousted Kemp for not supporting the former president’s election fraud claims, for which there is no known evidence.
stress is decreasing In recent “weeks,” a Trump official told The Post, Kemp recently said the country needed to send Republicans “back to the White House.”
“Brian Kemp appeared on Sean Hannity’s show … and he said kind things about the president and said he supported him. And it started melting.
“(Trump) called him and thanked him, and now here we are,” the source said.
45th President, who is facing a criminal case in georgia He criticized Kemp as recently as August, accusing him of illegally attempting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, calling him a “bad guy” and a “mediocre governor.”
The most consequential effect of the rift between the two was Trump’s support for former senator David Perdue’s primary challenge to Kemp in 2022. which the Governor easily ignored On his way to re-election.
Georgia is one of six key swing states that Trump lost four years ago and must win to return to the White House, and an improved relationship with the popular Republican governor could only help his efforts.
On Friday, Kemp twice thanked Trump for visiting Georgia and maintaining the “national focus” on the state during his recovery.
Trump was equally warm, thanking the governor for “welcoming us today after this terrible storm” and crediting Kemp for “doing a great job.”
“It’s great. It’s great, we work together, we’ve always worked very well together,” the 45th president said.
“I find the meltdown from top to bottom somewhat surreal,” the Trump official said. “Unless something happens that I don’t expect, I think it will continue and strengthen.”
Just a month before Election Day, campaign officials said, Trump is attempting to shore up support among former rivals.
“We talked to (former Republican presidential candidate) Nikki Haley, we talked to Brian Kemp. We (made the amendment) with (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis),” this person said. “I think the president has done a really good job of outreach and then making sure it’s not hollow, but real outreach.”
Kemp’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Post.
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