Prominent Georgia Republicans told James Magazine Online that fast-moving events last week resulted in a welcomed and renewed truce— and excited talk of GOP unity— after remarks by former President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp went public. Kemp told a conservative event called “The Gathering” on Friday, that “I’ve said for a long time… that I was going to support the nominee, that we were going to use our political operation to win Georgia despite past grievances.”
Couple this declaration with what happened the night before. U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News’s Hannity program that he attended a Wednesday fundraiser at the Atlanta home of former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler where Kemp vowed to aid Trump against Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris. “When [Kemp] spoke, the first thing out of his mouth, he looked at everybody in the room and said, ‘I want Donald Trump to win Georgia. I’m all in for Donald Trump. I’m going to give him my political machine,’” Graham said as reported by Breitbart News.
“I’ve got a great ground game, I’m going to put money behind it, and we’re going to win Georgia for Trump because Harris is a disaster for Georgia,” Kemp added, according to Graham.
Wednesday’s fundraiser, which was on behalf of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, raised $1 million. “I’ve never felt better about Georgia,” Graham told host Sean Hannity.
Hannity himself took to X (formerly Twitter) saying: “@BrianKempGA is $1,000 percent correct! His leadership is critical to victory in November. Harris/Walz would be an unmitigated disaster for Georgia and America.” Georgia’s governor had declared on his X account: “Hardworking Americans can’t afford four more years of Kamala Harris.”
At an August 3rd Atlanta rally, Trump took some potshots at Kemp. But even Atlanta Journal-Constitution political writer Greg Bluestein wrote, “… Kemp maintained his public support for Trump at the top the ticket, saying any nasty fighting ahead of the November election amounts to unhelpful internal ‘distractions.’” (He was quoting Kemp at “The Gathering,” although the AJC writer’s quotes were buried on Page A11 of Saturday’s newspaper.)
Trump campaign sources tell James Magazine Online that, four days after the former president’s rally criticisms of Kemp, he was preparing to smoke the peace pipe with the governor in the interest of unity against the Democrat ticket. Winning Georgia, most political observers agree, would be critical to a Trump triumph in the Electoral College count.
As of late Friday, FiveThirtyEight’s polling average showed Trump with a narrow edge over Harris in Georgia. He registered at 45.8 percent, and Harris tallied 45.2 percent.
Phil Kent is the CEO and Publisher of James Magazine Online.
