ATLANTA — White House hopeful Ron DeSantis met privately with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in Atlanta on Friday as he tries to shore GOP support heading into next week’s first primary debate.
The meeting took place as the Florida governor was campaigning in neighboring Georgia. DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin confirmed the two governors met but did not provide details about what was discussed.
Politico first reported the meeting between DeSantis and Kemp.
The two governors appeared Friday at conservative commentator Erick Erickson’s conference “The Gathering” in Buckhead, an affluent Atlanta neighborhood. Fellow GOP candidates like Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley were also in attendance.
Kemp has ruled out a 2024 presidential bid but has yet to endorse a candidate, saying Friday that the eventual Republican nominee must offer a forward-looking vision to take back the White House.
“Look, you can believe whatever you want about the 2020 election. That is your right,” he told the crowd in Buckhead, while cautioning that “complaining is not going to help us win.”
Former President Donald Trump, indicted by a Fulton County grand jury earlier this week on charges of felony racketeering and numerous conspiracy counts related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, did not attend the event.
On the campaign trail, DeSantis has made a point of highlighting the records of Republican governors — like Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Kemp — who find themselves on the receiving end of Trump’s ire for not backing his 2024 bid.
“I would also say, 2022 in Georgia you saw Governor Brian Kemp win a thumping reelection, better than a lot of people were predicting,” DeSantis said of Kemp on Fox News radio Tuesday, adding that “Donald Trump opposed him throughout that election.”
DeSantis will spend the coming days campaigning in New Hampshire and the Florida panhandle before traveling to Milwaukee for Wednesday’s debate.
Alec Hernández reported from Atlanta, Vaughn Hillyard reported from New York.
