President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris toured multiple Sun Belt states devastated by Hurricane Helene on Wednesday as they sought to avoid GOP backlash from mishandling the natural disaster’s impact.
The visits to these states, some of which are crucial battlegrounds, come just five weeks before Election Day and could sour the public on the Democratic ticket if the disaster recovery efforts are perceived as inadequate.
Past hurricanes, including Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012, played outsized roles in how the public viewed Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s leadership at the time.
Bush’s mishandling of Katrina helped fuel Obama’s 2008 victory, while Obama’s bipartisan work in 2012 when Sandy struck roughly three weeks before the election helped defeat Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
Harris and Biden’s public-facing work to help rebuild states struck by the storm comes as former President Donald Trump has lobed criticisms that Democrats are abandoning people in need.
Trump headed to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday where he accused the Biden administration of “sleeping” as the hurricane ripped through the South and falsely claimed that Biden was not responding to pleas for help from Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA).
Trump also slammed Harris for attending fundraisers in California as the hurricane was battering the South as he campaigned in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. “She ought to be down in the area where she should be,” Trump said.
The White House explained that the administration did not want security measures needed to protect Biden and Harris to interfere with local recovery efforts.
Biden also shot back that the former president was “lying” while the White House had announced Biden and Kemp spoke by phone Sunday night. The president also spoke with Cooper on Sunday as well.
The president visited Greenville, South Carolina, on Wednesday where he met with state and local officials in the early afternoon before heading to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he took an aerial tour of areas affected by the storm.
“I want to thank the Republican governor of South Carolina and the Democratic governor of North Carolina and all the elected officials (who) have focused on the task at hand in a moment like this, we put politics aside,” Biden said as he spoke in the Tar Heel State subtly pointing out the bipartisan efforts.
“Today, I approved the request of Gov. Cooper for the federal government to cover 100%, 100%, of all the costs for debris removal, emergency protective measures for six months. All the costs,” he said to applause, referencing Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC).
Biden will travel to Georgia and Florida on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Wednesday as well as touting the more than $10 million that has been provided directly to those affected by Hurricane Helene.
Harris canceled a previously scheduled trip to Pennsylvania to tour parts of Augusta, Georgia, on Wednesday. She announced that the Biden-Harris administration’s federal efforts to help with recovery.
“Today, I’m also announcing that the president has approved the governor’s request for 100% federal reimbursement of local costs,” Harris continued, referring to Kemp. “Also, we will be covering the local government costs for food, water, and shelter.”
Before landing in South Carolina, the White House announced the Department of Defense would deploy up to 1,000 active-duty troops to areas affected by the hurricane. Starting today, “they’re going to speed up the delivery of lifesaving supplies like food, water, medicine to isolated communities over what the Pentagon calls the last tactical mile,” Biden said.
The effort starting on Wednesday will help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other governmental agencies reach hard-hit communities as quickly as possible in the wake of power outages as well as food and water shortages.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed during a press gaggle on Air Force 1 that the administration is meeting the immediate needs of those impacted, with current funding. But “we are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season,” he warned.
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Biden also claimed it would take “billions of dollars” to cover the costs of rebuilding as he pressed Congress to end their recess and return to Capitol Hill to pass a disaster aid legislation quickly.
Ultimately, Biden reiterated to those who have been devastated that the federal government will not abandon them. “I’m here to say the United States, the nation, has your back. … We’re not leaving until you’re back on your feet completely,” he claimed.
