"Divide and conquer": How Vance helped Trump make amends in Georgia
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Former President Trump poses with Sen. J.D. Vance on Aug. 21 in North Carolina. Photo: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
Former President Trump and his vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), are working to make sure they don't alienate Georgia voters — key for a Republican victory in the presidential race.
The big picture: The pair is tag-teaming, with each relying on their strengths — including with Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who Trump has repeatedly torched but needs for a win in November.
- Vance was able to get Kemp on the phone last week, after which the governor publicly declared his support for the GOP ticket on Fox News.
- Trump then expressed his thanks for Kemp's "help and support in Georgia," apparently ending the quarrel between the two.
Zoom in: In an interview with NBC News on the campaign plane Tuesday, Vance downplayed his role in reaching a truce.
- "The way that I approached my conversation with [Kemp] was, 'I'm not going to convince you that you should change your mind on the president in the same way that I'm not going to convince the president that he should change his mind on you," Vance said.
- "But you guys agree on 90% of the things. You can put whatever personal differences aside,'" he continued. "And I think there were probably 150 people delivering that message to both the president and Brian Kemp, and I'm glad that [Kemp] got to a good place, but I don't claim any responsibility or credit for it."
What they're saying: Kemp's senior adviser, Cody Hall, said in a statement to NBC that "the governor conveyed to Senator Vance the same message he has been delivering for more than a year, and did again in an interview last week: that he fully supports the entire Republican ticket, is working hard to win Georgia for the former president, and strongly believes that our country can't afford four years of a Kamala Harris presidency."
Zoom out: Trump and Vance are using a strategy in which the VP hopeful appeals to people in ways Trump can't, the senator told NBC News.
- He described them as having "a lot of similarities, but also a lot of differences, too."
- Vance said that after their early appearances together, Trump "said, basically, 'I trust you. We should both be in different places, unless it's a really big event ... divide and conquer.'"
- Vance said they're "each trying to talk to different people in different ways" and "run the race as best we can," Vance said. "And he obviously sets the tone and sets the policy, and I just try to help."
Trump's campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in an emailed statement Wednesday, "Senator JD Vance is the perfect vice presidential candidate because he is a believer in the movement and can prosecute the case effectively against Kamala Harris and her disastrous record that has led to misery for all Americans."
Between the lines: After some awkward appearances in his early days as Trump's running mate — and unflattering publicity over his past statements about Democrats being led by "childless cat ladies" — Vance appears to have found some footing as Trump's attack dog, Axios' Sophia Cai reports.
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