ATHENS — Georgia Republicans thought the infighting over Donald Trump that roiled the state’s politics for much of the past decade was behind them. Then the former president attacked Gov. Brian Kemp and his wife, Marty.

Now GOP leaders are forced to revisit a dilemma they know all too well: how to reconcile their support for Trump even after he renewed a fight Saturday at his Atlanta rally with a governor who regularly polls as the most popular Republican in the state.

It puts Republicans in treacherous territory as they try to rally voters in a suddenly close race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Most would rather not talk about it. Several at a Georgia Chamber luncheon in Athens on Wednesday avoided the subject altogether. Those who do often echo Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, who has tried to calm the waters.

“There’s no need for us to go full tribal here. I can love and appreciate Gov. Kemp and vote for President Trump,” she said, adding that she hopes Republicans upset over the suddenly renewed feud take “a deep breath and consider the bigger picture.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Credit: Miguel Martinez

But even the sunniest take on Trump’s savaging of Kemp acknowledges that, at the very least, they undercut the campaign’s promise of GOP unity — and at worst could exact lasting damage as Harris closes the gap in polls and analysts declare the state a “toss-up.”

To many Republicans, it was a repeat of the GOP’s plight earlier this decade, when Trump — who has blamed the governor for not doing enough to overturn the results of the 2020 election — recruited former U.S. Sen. David Perdue to wage a doomed primary challenge against Kemp.

Except this time, a battleground state in a tight presidential contest is on the line.

“Right now, Trump needs Republicans to be laying down the ground game,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb County GOP chair and a frequent critic of Trump’s tactics. “And these attacks have turned off even some of his most faithful supporters.”

‘Grow up’

The broadsides seemed to come out of nowhere, with Trump telling thousands of attendees at Georgia State University that Kemp was a “bad guy” and “disloyal” as he spread lies about the state’s crime rate and his 2020 election. He also tried to brand him with a nickname: “Little Brian Kemp.”

The viciousness of Trump’s tirade, which lasted about 10 minutes, caught Kemp and his allies off guard. The governor hasn’t attended a Trump rally since 2021, when anti-Kemp cheers of “lock him up” routinely erupted from the crowd.

But since his 2022 victory over Democrat Stacey Abrams, the governor has also worked to cool tensions. He recently extended an olive branch to the Georgia GOP — the most important MAGA bastion in the state — and repeatedly endorsed Trump despite their fraught past.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

On Wednesday, the governor skirted the topic in remarks to business leaders and elected officials. In a social media post, he said he’s focused on defeating Harris and not “petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans or dwelling on the past.”

His allies have taken up his standard, with many going to social media to praise Kemp and his wife — and avoid mention of Trump. Some openly predict the clash could cost Trump a victory in Georgia, though that remains unclear.

Trump, too, had largely refrained from attacking Kemp for most of the past two years. But that uneasy peace shattered with the help of Bill White, a pro-Trump financier who said he reminded the former president before the rally that the governor and his wife were skipping the event.

Credit: Steve Schaefer

“Get behind President Trump and grow up,” he said of Kemp’s stance. “It’s time to save our country.”

While Trump’s fusillades against Kemp earned applause from far-right activists at the rally, University of North Georgia political scientist Nathan Price said they do little to attract new supporters.

Worse for Republicans, Price added, they could turn off swing voters who two years ago helped reelect both Kemp and Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

“It was a huge mistake for Trump to reignite the fight. He needs to win Kemp-Warnock voters that tend to be moderate, suburban, college-educated voters who were typically reliably Republican,” Price said. “And since 2016, we have seen a dramatic shift in which these voters have moved toward the Democrats.”

Stephen Lawson, a veteran Republican strategist and Kemp ally, put it a different way.

“For anyone still questioning who holds the real political power in this state, ask David Perdue and Stacey Abrams how that worked out for them,” he said.

“The governor paved the path for success in Georgia,” Lawson said. “All Donald Trump has to do is follow it and he’ll win.”

‘Do the right thing’

The new rifts also put a spotlight on other fissures within the party. Throughout his speech, Trump touted Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a MAGA loyalist who is likely to run for governor — but also depends on Kemp to help muscle his priorities into law. In a carefully worded statement, Jones tried to navigate the balancing act.

“I am friends with both the president and the governor. And as much as I would like for my friends to be friends, sometimes that is not the case — and that’s OK,” he said. “The bottom line: This country can’t take four more years of the mess Joe Biden and Kamala Harris created.”

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Senior Republicans also worry it could hurt down-ballot legislative candidates in swing districts. Many of them vouched for Kemp after the Saturday rally while avoiding mention of Trump.

House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration repeatedly avoided taking sides in the dispute on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, instead saying he wants to promote the “great story” Republicans can tell about conservative policies.

“I’ve run in previous years where we’ve had a controversial presidential election at the top of the ticket,” he added, “and we’ve seen great success with House Republican candidates running for reelection.”

Then there’s the Republican outlier: Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, one of the nation’s most prominent GOP backers of Harris who is now facing exile from the party. He said he would keep his advice to fellow Republicans short.

“Do the right thing. Listen to that tiny little voice in your head that tells you Donald Trump is the worst thing that not only happened to the party but this country,” Duncan said.

“This is a temporary moment of insanity for Republican Party,” he said, “and the only way to fix it is to get rid of him.”