President Donald Trump and 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.
Former President Donald Trump prepares to leave after visiting a store that was damaged during Hurricane Helene on September 30, 2024 in Valdosta, Georgia. Trump falsely said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp hadn’t been able to call President Joe Biden about Hurricane Helene.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
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. Joe Biden had beaten Trump in Georgia by just over 11,700 votes. Trump has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of alleged criminal attempt to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
Trump went on to endorse Kemp’s Republican challenger, former Senator David Perdue, in a 2022 primary. Kemp comprehensively beat 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 had accused Kemp of being a “disloyal guy” and a “very average governor” at an August 3 rally in Atlanta, Georgia.
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!”
Trump will have enough Electoral College votes to win the 2024 election by winning Georgia and the two other battleground states of Pennsylvania and North Carolina, barring any upsets elsewhere.
Trump also has a path to victory by beating Kamala Harris in the four Sun Belt swing states of Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and Nevada, and flipping either Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania.
