HomePoliticsTrump drags Hurricane Helene into the 2024 campaign

Trump drags Hurricane Helene into the 2024 campaign

Former President Donald Trump is making Hurricane Helene a campaign issue, planning a stop in storm-ravaged battleground Georgia on Monday and criticizing the Biden administration’s response with just weeks to go before the November election.

At a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Trump on Sunday accused President Joe Biden of “sleeping” at his beach house in Delaware and dragged Vice President Kamala Harris for hosting fundraising events in California over the weekend “while large swaths of us country have been affected’. devastated by that huge hurricane.”

At least 84 people were killed by Hurricane Helene, according to The Associated Press. The storm made landfall in Florida late Thursday before moving southeast across the southern Appalachians and into the Tennessee Valley. It caused millions of power outages and billions of dollars in property damage, with two electoral swing states — Georgia and North Carolina — among the hardest hit.

The Trump campaign announced shortly after he left the stage at his rally that the former president planned to receive a briefing on Helene in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday, then distribute relief supplies and speak to reporters. On stage, the Republican candidate said Harris “should be in the area” where the storm hit.

Later Sunday, Biden told Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that he planned to visit “affected communities” this week, “as soon as doing so will not disrupt emergency response operations.”

Harris was briefed by Criswell, according to the White House, and Biden has approved disaster declarations for numerous states and major disaster declarations for certain counties that will help provide temporary housing assistance, as well as grants and low-interest loans to help those in need. home repairs. Both urged the public to take the storm seriously ahead of landfall.

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Harris released a statement Saturday offering her condolences and saying she and the president “remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone.” Biden released a similar statement, warning that “the road to recovery will be long” but promising to “be with you every step of the way” and “ensure that no resource is spared” in rebuilding.

Asked about Trump’s plans and comments, the Harris campaign referred POLITICO to the White House, which did not respond to a question about whether Harris had planned visits to hurricane-torn states.

Biden was at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, over the weekend, receiving briefings on the devastation from Helene van Criswell and homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, according to the White House pool report. He urged agencies to speed up the deployment of search and rescue teams in North Carolina, where people are stranded without cell service or electricity.

Biden returned to the White House on Sunday afternoon.

How elected officials respond to natural disasters and other similar crises can make or break their political futures and provide them with opportunities to demonstrate leadership or unity.” A post-election autopsy of Trump’s 2020 campaign pollster, for example, blamed his handling of the Covid pandemic as key to his loss to Biden.

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In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Trump faced backlash as president after a visit to Puerto Rico when he threw paper towels at a crowd of people at a shelter. The island territory struggled to gain access to power for weeks, and Trump became embroiled in a high-profile fight with San Juan’s mayor, who had criticized the federal response.

Trump first built up his trip to the Helene-affected areas in a post on Truth Social Sunday by wondering aloud why Harris was attending fundraisers in San Francisco and Los Angeles “while large parts of our country are devastated and underwater ​​– with many people dead. .” Harris is also holding a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Sunday evening.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, posted on X shortly after Trump’s rally that the hurricane victims were “in my thoughts” and praised first responders. He added that “my heart breaks seeing the devastation” in Asheville, North Carolina — where he had campaigned a week earlier — and “across the South.” Officials in Buncombe County, home to Asheville, said Sunday that at least 30 people had been killed there.

During Sunday’s rally, Trump repeated many of his favorite criticisms of his opponents, including making deeply personal attacks on Biden and Harris, calling them both “mentally retarded.” He said Democrats would have been better off with Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee even though she is significantly stronger in the polls against Trump, and played a video at his rally that mocked Harris’ laughter and restated her past positions on illegal practices were viewed. immigration.

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The comments came as many Republicans urged Trump to focus on key issues in the final weeks before Election Day and as early voting is underway in some states.

Biden has previously appeared with political opponents after natural disasters, including touring the devastation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after Hurricane Ian hit the state in 2022. The following year, after Idalia struck and DeSantis ran for the Republican nomination for president, he told the public that security measures for a presidential visit would be too disruptive to recovery efforts.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) took over the meeting with Biden instead. Scott, who is up for re-election in November and has been deeply involved in the storm response in Florida, criticized Harris on Friday for not being on the ground before Trump announced plans to tour the storm-torn areas. Harris’ campaign also hit Trump on social media over the hurricane, highlighting a clip from Sunday’s rally in which he mocked climate change.

Criswell joined DeSantis at press conferences in Florida this past weekend. She was in Georgia on Sunday and will be in North Carolina on Monday.

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