The delicate diplomacy more than 800 miles from the Gold Dome is part of the ongoing efforts to smooth tensions within the GOP and unify against President Joe Biden. Betsy Kramer, one of the state’s 59 delegates, called Kemp’s message one of “unity which we all needed to hear.”

But it also highlights why Republicans were feeling increasingly confident about Trump’s chances in Georgia long before Biden’s dismal debate performance in Atlanta or Saturday’s assassination attempt that turned Trump into a saviorlike figure for many of his supporters.

For much of the past decade, Trump has been a stunningly effective unifying force for Democrats. Biden owes his close 2020 victory in Georgia to a fragile coalition bound partly by fears of a second Trump administration.

Trump’s also been the single-biggest source of internal turmoil for Republicans, who were weakened in the past two presidential campaigns by defections of once-solid GOP voters who couldn’t stomach him.

Now, Democrats are mired in a turf war over Biden’s future while dissent within the GOP over Trump has faded as his critics retire, lose office or reluctantly support the former president. Kemp made his approach clear in his 20-minute speech.

The governor didn’t gloss over the Trump-driven tumult that has split the GOP. He was a victim, he said, of the “circular firing squad” from within the party over his policies. He didn’t have to remind the audience of Trump’s failed campaign to unseat him two years ago.

But Kemp also renewed the same appeal he’s made to MAGA activists since the fallout of Georgia’s 2020 vote, when Trump and his allies blamed Kemp and other state Republican leaders for his defeat — and vilified them for not working to reverse it.

“We’ve got to remember, we’ve got to look forward from now, today — right now — to November,” he said. “And I will promise you I will be side by side with all of you to make sure that we keep Georgia red in 2024.”

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

It was one of several appearances in the opening days of the convention where Kemp acknowledged differences with his party’s nominee while also offering his vocal support to the former president.

“I haven’t certainly agreed with everything that President Trump did,” he said at a Politico event. “And I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but he also certainly didn’t agree with some of the things I’ve done over the years. But that’s OK in politics. My focus right now is on the future.”

To state Democratic leaders, Kemp’s embrace of Trump is craven but not surprising. Other Trump skeptics have also closed ranks behind him. U.S. Sen. JD Vance once questioned whether Trump was “America’s Hitler.” Now he’s his running mate.

And the most prominent Georgia Republican to endorse Biden, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, even told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was having second thoughts after the debate.

Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye, the Democratic Party of Georgia’s executive director, said Kemp “kissing the ring at the Republican National Convention makes a lot of sense” given his conservative record.

He said Kemp’s agenda, which includes a 2019 anti-abortion law and opposition to the federal climate and green energy measure, amounts to the “exact same out-of-touch playbook that MAGA Republicans are touting at the RNC.”

‘A red state’

Not long ago, a Kemp appearance at a Georgia GOP event for Trump would hardly merit a mention. But as Trump’s acrimony toward the governor mushroomed after the 2020 election, some state party leaders quietly backed former U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s quest to oust Kemp.

As the state GOP focused its resources on boosting Trump and paying the legal bills of his co-defendants in Fulton County’s election interference trial, the governor started his own parallel organization to boost down-ticket Republicans his allies felt were being neglected.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Only recently has the relationship thawed with the 2023 election of Josh McKoon, a former state senator, to the Georgia GOP chairmanship. Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson, one of the delegates, said Kemp’s visit was an important milestone for the party.

“Our governor has made it clear that Georgia is not blue or purple,” Thompson said. “He said Georgia is red and he intends to do everything within his ability to ensure Georgia remains a red state.”

There were also signs the rift hasn’t healed. A few activists who backed Trump’s efforts to unseat Kemp two years ago held their applause when he was introduced and stayed conspicuously seated as delegates around them gave the governor a standing ovation.

Some said privately they still viewed him with suspicion and questioned the depth of his loyalty to Trump, particularly after he cast a blank ballot in Georgia’s March primary even though every other serious GOP contender had already dropped out of the race.

But several offered begrudging applause. Alex Johnson, a delegate who leads the ultraconservative Georgia Republican Assembly, said that while the speech wasn’t as “inspiring” as an address from Trump, he was glad it focused on the GOP press to win in November.

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC

Kandiss Taylor was among the far-right Republicans who unsuccessfully challenged Kemp two years ago. Now a GOP delegate and coastal Georgia activist, she was in the audience Tuesday for Kemp’s speech.

“Republicans are more united than ever before since the attempted assassination of President Trump,” she said.

“If Gov. Kemp making the trip to Milwaukee and speaking directly about getting President Trump back in the White House doesn’t show that, I’m not sure what else will.”