In this Nov. 4, 2018, file photo, then-Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp, left, walks with President Donald Trump as Trump arrives for a rally in Macon , Ga. The two will receive a joint briefing about Hurricane Helene and deliver remarks to the media in Evans, a suburb of Augusta. It won’t be a campaign rally, but the politics of the moment can’t be ignored.for his 2020 defeat, tried to oust him in 2022 and then abruptly attacked him at a campaign rally in Atlanta in August.
For Kemp, there are advantages, too. He has his own political future to worry about, and those close to him say he’s more likely to run for president in 2028 than the U.S. Senate in 2026. No matter what he decides, being branded a GOP traitor won’t help him on the campaign trail.” about Kemp. Instead, it’s billed as an assessment of Helene’s damage in storm-ravaged east Georgia. That means there won’t be a kiss-the-ring moment before throngs of MAGA fans, but a more somber news conference.
But as the race tightened, Kemp has stepped up his advocacy for Trump. He made peace with the Georgia GOP – a MAGA bastion – at the Republican National Convention. And he’s taken steps to directly embrace the former president.