Trump and Kemp Appearing Together for Georgia Hurricane Briefing Is Dems’ Worst Nightmare

On Friday, former President Donald Trump headed to Evans, Georgia, where he and Republican Governor Brian Kemp were briefed on the devastation from Hurricane Helene in the eastern part of the Peach state, and delivered remarks. You might want to read that sentence again.

They were invited by local officials, according to reports:

But the event is not being billed as a campaign appearance, and officials in Columbia County invited both men to attend the briefing, according to a person with knowledge of the appearance, granted anonymity to speak freely.

Of course, Kemp and Trump appearing in the same place is huge. They last did that in 2020, and it’s only been recently that the rancor between the two over the last presidential election has subsided. (It says something that the photo of the two men together at the top of this story is culled from 2018.)

But what the meet-up wasn’t is just as important. You probably have an idea what that is, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein mentioned it in his X post: It wasn’t a campaign rally, just over a month before one of the most important presidential elections of our lifetimes.  I’ll get to why that’s a net positive for Republicans in a minute.

Kemp spoke on the devastation to crops and livestock in Georgia, and what his administration is doing to ease the burden of the hurricane on all Georgians, including temporarily suspending the gas tax:

Trump took to the microphones next, and called Hurricane Helene “one of the deadliest storms in American history,” citing the current death toll of more than 200, but saying it will surely rise:

Then he lit into the White House for its pathetic response:

Notice the former president’s pitch-perfect reply to a media question on how the storm damage might affect voter turnout (I’m guessing at the context, since the clip starts after the question is asked.)

Watch:

What’s the takeaway from the Georgia briefing event? It’s a big deal, showing Republicans are unified, which is the Democrats’ worst nightmare. Their every word and action shows that discord and division are their goal. While Trump was with Kemp, Friday saw the Dems putting on a kabuki theater show in Michigan at Kamala Harris’ event with (I can’t even believe I’m writing this) displaced Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney.

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As I said, this is a smart strategy on Team Trump’s part; it is good for not only the GOP presidential ticket but the party as a whole. The fact that we can extend an olive branch this way while helping a segment of the American people in abject chaos, is a positive sign–and says so much to American voters about the contrast between the GOP and Democrats.