ATLANTA — Nearly three weeks after Donald Trump was criticized by the Republican party for his tirade against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other fellow state politicians, the former president is changing tune.
On a night in which the Georgia governor made an appearance on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, Kemp took the time to say that Trump "must be reelected" in the upcoming presidential election.
Following the message from Kemp on Thursday night, Trump took to social media to pledge his support for Kemp, thank him and express that he is looking forward to working with him in hopes of winning the 2024 election against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Nathan Price, who teaches a class on Divisive Politics at the University of North Georgia, thinks there’s been some behind-the-scenes efforts to get both men on the same page.
Georgia voters have a key role in the upcoming presidential election -- a state where President Joe Biden beat Trump in the 2020 race. Professor Emeritus Dr. William Boone of Clark Atlanta University weighed in on the importance.
“Trump knows he needs Georgia in order to win the presidency," Boone said. "Kemp does not want to be charged with having derailed that."
For two election cycles, Kemp was able to garner swing voters in Georgia. According to Price, those voters will be key in who wins this presidential race.
This could be a reason why the pair are making amends.
“He is going to have to win those swing voters because that is the portion of the Georgia electorate that is persuadable," Price said.
What Trump said about Kemp on Aug. 3 in Atlanta
Back on Aug. 3, at a rally at Georgia State University's basketball arena, Trump blasted Kemp by calling him "disloyal" and stated that Kemp was only in his current position as governor due to his own endorsement while he was president.
Trump said that he would "never have beaten Stacy Abrams" without his endorsement and criticized Kemp and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp while speaking at his rally.
"(After he won), his wife looked at me, and she said, 'Thank you, sir. We'll never, ever be able to repay you for what you did. You got my husband the nomination, and then we beat somebody (Abrams) who was unbeatable,'" Trump said.
"He is the most disloyal guy I think I've ever seen," Trump said of Kemp. "But think of the wife ... and now she said two weeks ago that I will not endorse him because he has not earned my endorsement ... but I don't want her endorsement, I don't want his endorsement. I just want them to do their job for Georgia and you know what, he's the governor, he oughta support his Republican party because if he's not, if he doesn't have his Republican party, I can tell you where he came from and it wasn't good."
Kemp clapped back on the comments made by Trump, saying his focus is on winning the presidential election come November and "not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past."
The Georgia governor wrapped it up simply on social media, saying in part: "You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it."
The message from Trump turned heads in the Republican aisle, shocking many who believed it showed disunity among the party in the short months leading up to the presidential election.
On Thursday, at a campaign stop in Valdosta, vice presidential pick JD Vance talked about Trump and Kemp's rocky relationship.
"I read the headlines. Brian Kemp and Donald Trump have had some disagreements," Vance said. "I 100% guarantee you that Brian Kemp is behind this ticket. He wants us to win because he believes the policies of Kamala Harris are disastrous for this country, and he's exactly right about that."
It seems that the two just may finally be on the same page once again, perhaps.
