Trump, Kemp mark detente in Georgia

Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday appeared together for the first time in four years — but no one was mistaking the reunion for a strong showing of mutual admiration.

The former president and swing-state governor stood side by side not at a campaign event a month before the election, but in front of cases of bottled water, boxes of diapers and other items to be donated to hurricane and flooding victims, addressing reporters after the two men were briefed by emergency officials in Evans, Georgia.

Trump and Kemp were cordial. Kemp thanked Trump for visiting his state twice in a week to help “keep a national focus” on Georgia. Trump — who in August was publicly trashing Kemp — likewise praised Kemp for the job he was doing.

After they shook hands, patted each other’s backs and Kemp walked away from the lectern, a reporter shouted a question at Trump.

“What is your relationship like now with Gov. Kemp?” the reporter asked.

“It’s great,” Trump said, prompting the reporter to add that Trump had “criticized” Kemp.

“No, no, no,” Trump said. “It’s great. We work together. We’ve always worked together very well. Very, really, well.”

But as for their relationship, that was about it. During his remarks Friday afternoon, Kemp discussed the damage he and his wife, Marty, had witnessed over the last week. The linemen from other states he had met, the stories of loss and near death his own state’s residents faced, and the executive measures he was taking to manage the aftermath. He cited Galatians 6:9, a Bible verse someone had shared with him about not growing weary of doing good.

And Kemp did nothing to ramp up criticism of the federal government’s response, a message Trump has pushed. The governor said that with a phone call to the White House and FEMA, the federal government increased the number of counties in his state with emergency designation from 11 to 45.

“What we’re all going through is a living nightmare,” Kemp said.

Trump likewise discussed the toll that the natural disaster had taken on residents in Georgia and surrounding states and touted money raised by campaign donors to aid in relief efforts. Answering questions from the press afterward, Trump slammed the “terrible response from the White House.”

At one point during the event, Trump said that victims of the hurricane will be better taken care of if he is elected president in November. But asked afterward about the impact the storm damage could have on the voting in Georgia and North Carolina, Trump said he wasn’t concerned about what it could mean for the election.

“I’m not thinking about voters right now, I’m thinking about lives,” Trump said. “And to be honest, it’s much bigger than anything else. But we’re thinking about lives, a lot of lives lost, a lot of people missing, and that’s what I’d be focused on right now.”

Trump, who was set to hold a town hall Friday night in Fayetteville, North Carolina — across the state from the hurricane damage — is expected to return to North Carolina next week to visit areas impacted by flooding.