Donald Trump and Brian Kemp must ‘reconcile’ and bury their beef as critical swing state is in play say allies

This past weekend, Donald Trump reignited his feud with the leader of a crucial swing state in 2024. Last time, that feud didn’t end well for the Republicans.

Before a rally in Atlanta, Trump reopened old wounds by calling Georgia’s crime rate “horrible” and the economy “average,” and saying he doesn’t want support from Gov. Brian Kemp or his wife. In a bitter retort, Kemp shot back, saying “leave my family out of this.”

Trump has long harbored resentment toward Kemp, the state’s leading Republican, for not taking more aggressive action against unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Now Trump’s Republican allies are hoping the two men can reconcile with less than 100 days until the general election.

Mike Collins, Republican Rep. from Georgia, in a statement to DailyMail.com, described the altercation as “like a Thanksgiving dinner or a family reunion.”

“Just like Thanksgiving or family reunions in the South, sometimes family members don’t always get along. Still, we look forward to seeing them again at next year’s event and we love them no less,” he said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

“The absolute priority for all Republicans in Georgia must be to get Trump across the finish line in November. Hopefully, at some point, we can reconcile the personalities, but in the meantime, Americans suffer and die because of bad policies, not mean tweets.”

Before a rally in Atlanta, Trump reopened old wounds by calling Georgia’s crime rate “horrible” and the economy “average,” and saying he doesn’t want support from Gov. Brian Kemp or his wife. In a bitter retort, Kemp shot back: “Leave my family out of this.”

“Brian Kemp should be focusing his efforts on fighting crime, not fighting Unity and the Republican Party! His crime rate in Georgia is terrible, his crime rate in Atlanta is the worst, and his economy is average,” Trump wrote before the thousands of people gathered for his speech on Saturday.

Trump then went after Kemp’s wife and Georgia’s first lady, Marty Kemp.

“He and his wife didn’t think he could win. I said, ‘I’m telling you, you’re going to win.’ Then he won, he was happy, and his wife said, ‘Thank you, sir, we’ll never make it right!’ Now she says she won’t support me, and she’s going to ‘write in Brian Kemp’s name.’ Well, I don’t want her support, and I don’t want his,” Trump wrote.

“I’m focused on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats. I don’t want to engage in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past,” Kemp responded to X.

“You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it,” he continued.

Kelly Loeffler, the former Georgia senator who lost a re-election race in 2021 in what some observers blamed on Trump’s attacks on the state’s elections, downplayed the disagreement between the two men.

Kelly Loeffler, the former Georgia senator who lost a re-election race in 2021 in a move some observers attributed to Trump’s attacks on the state’s elections, downplayed the dispute between the two men

This past weekend, Donald Trump rekindled a feud that didn’t end well for Republicans last time around

“Republicans have always embraced a broad spectrum of views – that’s why we had a competitive primary for president, while Democrats invalidated 14 million votes and named Kamala Harris president,” she told DailyMail.com in a statement.

“The bottom line is that President Trump and Governor Kemp are working tirelessly to fix America and prevent Kamala’s broken agenda from causing even more pain. That is my focus, it is their focus, and it is shared by all of us who have been crushed by high prices, crime, the open border, and the many other radical policies of the Biden-Harris administration.”

Loeffler lost her 2021 runoff election at the height of Trump’s attacks on Georgia’s electoral system, a move some strategists say has depressed Republican voter turnout.

Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia compared the feud to “a Thanksgiving dinner or a family reunion” — but expressed hope the two men would “reconcile”

Others were more outspoken in their criticism of the rekindling of old tensions.

“The Trump rally in Atlanta makes it more likely that Kamala Harris will win. He is his own worst enemy,” said conservative Georgia radio host Erick Erickson.

Trump and Kemp have had a close relationship for years, but Trump’s animosity toward the Republican Party governor increased after Trump lost Georgia in 2020.

The ex-president reportedly pressured the Republican Party governor to intervene and gather votes to overturn the election results after President Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes in Georgia.

He has also expressed anger over Kemp’s failure to help him in the Fulton County case against him for election interference in Georgia.

Trump wrote Saturday that Kemp is a “bad guy” as he faces another neck-and-neck race in Georgia in November, with Vice President Kamala Harris leading the Democratic ticket.

Kemp enjoys broad support in the Georgia GOP, having fended off a Trump-backed bid to unseat him as governor in 2022 and outpolling Trump’s hand-picked Senate candidate, Herschel Walker.

Trump went after Kemp again at his rally on Saturday.

‘Your Governor, Kemp, and [Secretary of State Brad] “Raffensperger, they’re doing everything they can to make it hard for Republicans to win 2024,” he said. “What are they doing? I don’t know. They’ve got something in mind, you know, they’ve got something small in mind. Kemp is very bad for the Republican Party.”

Trump went after Kemp again at his rally on Saturday

“The election in Georgia is secure,” Raffensperger wrote in a message Saturday. “The winner here in November will reflect the will of the people. History has shown us that this kind of messaging does not sell well here in Georgia, sir.”

Kemp encouraged Trump to focus on the future instead of the past.

“My focus is on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats — not on swinging petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans or dwelling on the past,” Kemp said. “You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of this.”