Former President Donald Trump on Friday made his second stop in battleground Georgia this week to survey Hurricane Helene’s devastation where he was joined by Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for the first time since 2020.
During the Friday stop, Trump and Kemp — who have previously had an icy relationship — received a briefing on Hurricane Helene’s devastation before delivering remarks to the press in Evans, Georgia. More than 200 people have been killed from Hurricane Helene, which unleashed devastation across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.
During the remarks, Trump offered high praise to Kemp after relentlessly bashing him and his wife just months ago.
“It’s great,” Trump said about his relationship with Kemp.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp after speaking at a temporary relief shelter as he visits areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, Oct. 4, 2024, in Evans, Ga.
Evan Vucci/AP
“We work together. We’ve always worked together very well, very, really, well,” Trump said.
Kemp immediately walked out after Trump finished his remarks before reporters could shout questions at him.
Prior to the event, Trump visited the Emergency Operations Center for Columbia County after arriving in Augusta, Georgia, where he participated in an emergency management briefing and greeted volunteers and first responders. Kemp sat next to Trump during the briefing.
The joint appearance came after Trump’s visit earlier in the week, when he injected politics into his day and falsely claimed that Kemp was unable to reach President Joe Biden about federal assistance, even though earlier in the day Kemp confirmed he spoke with the president.
While Friday’s remarks were not a campaign event, it is notable that the state’s popular Republican governor appeared with Trump after opting not to join Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during their visits to the state earlier this week.
Kemp offered praise for Trump during the Friday event, saying he appreciated Trump for helping to keep “the nation’s attention on those who are hurting in Georgia.”
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks during a visit to a temporary relief shelter as he visits areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, Oct. 4, 2024, in Evans, Ga.
Evan Vucci/AP
Kemp headlined a fundraiser in Atlanta for Trump in late August, a sign of how Kemp is working to reelect Trump despite the former president’s previous crusade against him.
The former president had publicly and repeatedly criticized Kemp in recent years and even persuaded former Republican Sen. David Perdue to launch a primary bid against him in 2022, which was unsuccessful, after Kemp refused to give in to Trump’s attempts to overturn the state’s election results in 2020.
However, in recent weeks, Trump has appeared to end his grievances with the popular Republican governor after watching an appearance Kemp did on Fox News, during which Kemp slammed Biden and Harris and pledged to help encourage Republicans to turn out to vote for Trump on Election Day.
“I also want to thank Gov. Brian Kemp, who is working around the clock to get this problem solved. He’s working hard around the clock,” Trump said on Monday about the governor’s response to Hurricane Helene, while visiting Valdosta, Georgia.
The comments were a sharp change in rhetoric from the last time Trump was campaigning in Georgia, where he repeatedly lashed out at Kemp and his wife.
“He’s a bad guy, he is a disloyal guy, and he’s a very average governor,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Atlanta earlier in August, just days before he began praising the Georgia governor and the governor fundraised for him.
An unidentified man paddles a canoe to rescue residents and their belongings at a flooded apartment complex after Hurricane Helene passed the area on Sept. 27, 2024, in Atlanta.
Ron Harris/AP
Trump’s change in attitude on Kemp highlights the importance of winning the battleground state for the Trump campaign after Harris took over the top of the Democratic ticket earlier this summer and shook up the presidential election.
The race in Georgia remains incredibly close, with Trump polling at 48.4% and Harris at 47.1%, according to 538’s most recent polling average.
Also during Friday’s press briefing, ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked Trump if he acknowledges that the economy is doing well as the stock market and jobs creation soars, to which Trump responded, “No, it’s not.”
“Inflation is — it’s devastated our economy. It’s one of the big problems we have,” the former president said, later adding, “we have to get the jobs to the people that have lived here for a long time, and they’re great, great citizens of our country.”
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, ABC News’ “Good Morning America” is set to provide five days of special coverage titled “Southeast Strong: Help After Helene” (#SoutheastStrongABC), spotlighting communities across the Southeast impacted by Hurricane Helene and the urgent efforts to help them recover.