Donald Trump and Brian Kemp Deliver Mixed Messages Over Georgia Storm Aid

Former President Donald Trump and Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp have offered different accounts about the federal response to Hurricane Helene.
Georgia was one of the states hit by the Category 4 hurricane after it made landfall Thursday. While visiting the storm damaged area of Valdosta on Monday, Trump praised the governor and his team for doing a “very good job” responding to the natural disaster but attacked President Joe Biden.
“They are not being responsive, the federal government is not being responsive,” Trump said. “They are having a hard time getting the president on the phone.”
But Kemp had said earlier in the day that he had spoken to Biden on the phone on Sunday.
“He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?'” Kemp told reporters. “And I told him, you know, we got what we need. We will work through the federal process. He offered that if there’s other things we need, just to call him directly.”
Biden approved an emergency declaration in Georgia on September 26, ordering federal assistance and funding for the state.
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s campaign team and Kemp’s office for comment via email.
The relationship between Kemp and Trump was strained for years after the governor refused to support the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Biden had beaten Trump in Georgia by just over 11,700 votes. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of alleged criminal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
Trump later went on to endorse Kemp’s primary Republican challenger, former Senator David Perdue, in 2022. Kemp easily defeated Perdue by more than 50 percentage points.
In June, Kemp said that he didn’t vote for Trump in the state’s 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Trump has previously accused Kemp of being a “disloyal guy” and a “very average governor” at an August 3 rally in Atlanta.
Efforts were then made for Kemp and Trump to settle their differences so the feud would not damage the former president’s chances in the crucial swing state in the election, The Associated Press reported in August.
In a late August interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Kemp said: “We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House.”
Trump praised the Georgia governor’s comments on social media shortly after Kemp’s appearance on Fox News.
“Thank you to @BrianKempGA for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country,” Trump posted. “I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Georgia could play a key role in the 2024 election, particularly if Trump is able to flip any one of typical Democratic strongholds Pennsylvania, Michigan or Wisconsin.