Vice President Kamala Harris received criticism for a social media post showing her being briefed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the latest Hurricane Helene updates, with numerous eagle-eyed social media users calling out the peculiar photograph in her post.
“I was just briefed by @FEMA_Deanne Criswell on the latest developments about the ongoing impacts of Hurricane Helene. We also discussed our Administration’s continued actions to support emergency response and recovery. I also spoke with @NC_Governor Cooper about the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts in North Carolina,” the vice president said Sunday night on social media.
She added, “Our Administration will continue to stay in constant contact with state and local officials to ensure communities have the support and resources they need. Doug and my thoughts are with all those who lost loved ones and those whose homes, businesses, and communities were damaged or destroyed during this disaster.”
The photo caught the attention of social media users, including her Republican presidential rival.
“Another FAKE and STAGED photo from someone who has no clue what she is doing. You have to plug the cord into the phone for it to work!” former President Donald Trump said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“The paper is blank and the wired headphones aren’t even plugged into her phone. If you’re going to pretend you’re not AWOL as NC is under water, at least put some effort into it,” a social media user reacted.
“This piece of paper is unburdened by White House pen,” another person quipped about her seeming to write something on a page but the pen not quite touching the page.
“This is the most VEEP-like photo ever — pretending to be on a phone call but forgetting to plug in the antiquated earphones while pretending to write on a blank piece of paper instead of actually doing anything,” conservative journalist Mollie Hemingway said.
“Are her wired earbuds even plugged in to her phone?” veteran television journalist Brit Hume asked.
“Fake picture, fake help, fake candidate,” former Rep. Scott Taylor said.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Harris’s office for comment on the photo.
After Harris spent the weekend in California raising about $55 million in high-dollar events, she held a campaign rally in Nevada on Sunday night. The vice president returned to Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon to visit the FEMA headquarters for a briefing about the emergency response for the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which also drew criticism as video showed her not responding to reporters’ questions.
While she was fundraising and campaigning over the weekend, Hurricane Helene devastated parts of several states, including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. President Joe Biden was also criticized for spending the weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Biden defended the administration’s response.
“The president did exactly what a president in this moment needs to do, which is directing his team to take action,” the press secretary said Monday at the White House briefing, adding that Harris planned to visit the FEMA headquarters later Monday afternoon.
