Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 5
President Joe Biden said Monday he plans to tour areas of the Southeast damaged by Hurricane Helene when his visit will not interfere with ongoing rescue and recovery operations – efforts all the more scrutinized for taking place in the shadow of a contentious presidential campaign.
The trip was announced just days after the devastating storm ripped through much of the South, with the death toll now reaching an estimated 121 across six states. North Carolina was hit the hardest, with Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, reporting 30 deaths on Sunday and major power outages.
Speaking from the White House on Monday, Biden reassured communities hit hard by the storm that the “nation has your back” and that help was on the way.
Reiterating his intent to visit hurricane-ravaged communities, he noted that he was told “it would be disruptive if I did it right now.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, is also expected to travel to the affected area “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”
At a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, she told attendees that she knows “everyone here sends their thoughts and prayers for the folks who have been so devastated by that hurricane.”
Harris was expected to make several campaign stops in Las Vegas, but her office announced she would instead head back to Washington to attend a briefing on the damage at FEMA’s headquarters.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, praised first responders and said everyone affected by the storm was “on my mind” in a post on social media. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s Republican running mate, wrote on social media that he was “heartbroken by the devastation” in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee.
Meanwhile, Trump is seeking to make the hurricane and the current administration’s response an issue on the campaign trail.
Trump hit out at both Biden and Harris during a rally on Sunday in Erie, Pennsylvania, for their response, accusing Biden of “sleeping” at his Delaware beach house.
He also slammed Harris for holding fundraising events in California over the weekend while “big parts of our country have been devastated by that massive hurricane.” He echoed the same criticism of her in a post on social media.
Source: US News
