Trump, Kemp show united front in joint appearance in storm-ravaged Georgia

Natural disasters -- and election years -- are known to facilitate political truces where least expected, and that is what appears to have happened last week in the Peach State.

Despite an ongoing war of words regarding the 2020 election and the controversies that followed, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and former President Donald Trump put their feud aside Friday, reversed their negative verdicts on one another, and met to discuss efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Helene, as the Associated Press reports.

Rift repaired?

Appearing together outside the town of Augusta, Trump and Kemp touted relief initiatives in the wake of the devastating storm that leveled parts of the southeastern United States, displaying a level of friendly cooperation and respect not seen between the two since 2020.

Kemp told assembled journalists, “I want to thank President Trump for coming back to our state a second time...and keeping the national focus on our state as we recover.”

Trump, for his part, pledged to do whatever is necessary to assist with rebuilding affected areas if he reaches the Oval Office once more, saying, “I told the governor, if I'm involved, they are going to get the best treatment.”

The remarks to the media followed a private meeting between the governor and the GOP presidential hopeful, who traveled to Georgia with top campaign staffers as well as Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump.

Following their private chat, Trump told reporters that Kemp has done a “fantastic job” with regard to hurricane response in his state, seeming to let bygones be bygones with regard to their prior dispute.

Recent rancor set aside

It was a recently as August that the bitterness between Trump and Kemp was on full display during an Atlanta rally in which the former president took aim at the governor in bold fashion.

As Fox 5 reported at the time, Trump did little to hide his lingering resentment over Kemp's actions in the wake of the 2020 election, going after the governor on social media ahead of the event.

Trump suggested that Kemp focus on “fighting Crime, not fighting Unity and the Republican Party,” and he also blasted the governor's wife for publicly declaring that she would not cast a ballot for the former president this fall but would instead do a write-in of her husband's name.

“He's a bad guy. He's a disloyal guy. And he's a very average governor, Trump told rally attendees, prompting Kemp to respond on X that Trump should “leave my family out of it” and cease “dwelling on the past.”

Exchanges such as those made last week's friendly engagement all the more surprising to many, but in the run-up to a hotly contested presidential race in which a handful of states can make all the difference, a seemingly unlikely detente such as this -- for however long it lasts -- was perhaps to be anticipated.