Harris, Trump change campaign plans after Hurricane Helene devastation

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — Donald Trump on Monday repeatedly spread falsehoods about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, even as he claimed not to politicize the disaster as he toured hard-hit areas in south Georgia.

The former president and Republican nominee claimed as he landed in Valdosta that President Joe Biden was “asleep” and did not respond to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who he said “called the president and couldn't reach him.” He repeated the claim at an event with reporters after Kemp said he had spoken to Biden.

“He’s lying, and the governor told him he’s lying,” Biden said Monday.

The White House said earlier that Biden spoke by phone Sunday evening with Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as Scott Matheson, mayor of Valdosta, Georgia, and John Louk, Florida's emergency management director. Kemp confirmed Monday morning that he had spoken to Biden the evening before.

“The president just called me yesterday afternoon and I missed him and called him right back and he just said, 'Hey, what do you need?' And I told him, you know, we have what we need, we're going to work through the federal process,” Kemp said. “He offered to call him directly if we needed anything else, which I really appreciated.”

Natural disasters are not just humanitarian crises but can also pose political tests for elected officials, particularly in the final weeks of a presidential campaign in which North Carolina and Georgia, two battlegrounds, were among the hardest-hit states. Trump has in recent days used the damage caused by Helene to attack Harris, the Democratic candidate, and suggest that she and Biden are playing politics with the storm – something he was accused of as president.

Biden is reluctant to spend time at his beach house

While the White House highlighted Biden's call to Kemp and others, the president faced questions about his decision to spend the weekend at his beach house in Delaware rather than at the White House to monitor the storm.

“I ordered it,” Biden told reporters after remarks at the White House about the federal government’s response. “I spent at least two hours on the phone yesterday and the day before. I ordered it. It’s called a telephone.”

Biden received regular briefings about the storm, the White House said, as did Harris aboard Air Force Two as she conducted a campaign rotation on the West Coast. The vice president cut short her campaign trip on Monday to return to Washington for a Federal Emergency Management Agency briefing.

Trump claimed on his social media platform Monday, also without evidence, that the federal government and North Carolina's Democratic governor have “done everything possible not to help people in Republican areas.” Asheville, which was devastated by the storm, is solidly Democratic, as is much of Buncombe County that surrounds it.

The death toll from Helene has exceeded 100 people, with some of the worst damage caused by inland flooding in North Carolina.

Biden said he would travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to see the devastation firsthand, but he would limit his footprint so as not to distract from ongoing recovery efforts.

During her speech Monday at FEMA headquarters, Harris said she has received regular updates about disaster relief, including from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, and has spoken with Kemp and Cooper in the past 24 hours.

“I let them know that we will do everything we can to help communities respond and recover,” she said. “And I let them know that I plan to get there as quickly as possible without disrupting the emergency response.”

Asked whether her visit politicized the storm, she frowned and shook her head but did not answer.

Trump has teamed up with a Christian charity to get supplies

The Trump campaign partnered with Christian humanitarian aid group Samaritan's Purse to bring trucks carrying fuel, food, water and other essential supplies to Georgia, said Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's national press secretary.

Leavitt did not immediately respond to questions about how much was donated and from which institution.

“Our hearts are with you and we will be with you as long as you need it,” Trump said, flanked by a group of elected officials and Republican supporters.

Trump said he wanted to stop in North Carolina but was holding back because of limited access and communication in the hardest-hit communities.

Asked by The Associated Press on Monday whether he feared his visit to Georgia would take away law enforcement resources that could be used for disaster relief, Trump replied: “No.” He said his campaign instead had “a lot of cars full of them.” brought resources”.

Katie Watson, who with her husband owns the home design store that Trump visited, said she was told the former president chose the location because he saw footage of the store destroyed by the rubble and said, “Find it this place and find these people.”

“He didn’t come here for me. He came here to realize that this city was destroyed. “This is a major setback,” she said.

“He recognizes that we are hurting and he wants us to know that,” she added. “It was a unique opportunity to meet the President. That’s not quite how I wanted to do it.”

Trump campaign officials have a long time pointed out his visit to East Palestine, Ohio, where a toxic derailment occurred, a turning point in the early days of the presidential campaign as he struggled to gain traction as a candidate. They believed his warm welcome from residents frustrated by the federal government's response helped remind voters why they had been drawn to him years before.

Trump fought with Puerto Rico and meteorologists as president

During Trump's term as president, he visited numerous disaster areas, including the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes and shootings. But the trips sometimes sparked controversy, such as when he threw paper towels to cheering residents of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Additionally, it took until the 2020 presidential election for the Trump administration to release $13 billion in aid to the territory. A federal government watchdog found that officials obstructed an investigation into delays in aid delivery.

Another incident in 2019 involved Trump administration officials admonished Some meteorologists tweeted that Alabama was not at risk from Hurricane Dorian, contradicting the then-president. Trump famously showed a map altered with a black Sharpie pen to indicate that Alabama could be in the storm's path.

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Fernando reported from Chicago and Amy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Chris Megerian and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Will Weissert in Las Vegas contributed to this report.