Vice President Kamala Harris denounced Donald Trump’s behavior in the wake of Hurricane Helene, labelling it irresponsible and self-centered.
“There’s a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former president about what is available, particularly to the survivors of Helene,” the Democratic presidential nominee told reporters before boarding Air Force Two on Monday. “It’s extraordinarily irresponsible. It’s about him. It’s not about you.”
More than 220 are dead across six states due to Helene, which made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26. Another powerful hurricane, Milton, is closing in on the state this week.
Trump has been on a lying spree about Helene and the way the Biden-Harris administration has been handling it. He’s falsely claimed that President Joe Biden ducked calls from Georgia’s Republican governor, that the White House is neglecting to help conservative-leaning areas affected by the storm, and that Harris spent “all” the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief money on housing undocumented immigrants.
“The reality is that FEMA has so many resources that are available to folks who desperately need them now, and resources that are about helping people get back on their feet and rebuild and have places to go,” Harris told reporters Monday.
“People are entitled to these resources, and it is critically important that people apply for the help that is there to support,” she added.
She also criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a Trump ally, for similarly “playing political games.”
The White House said Monday that DeSantis had refused to take calls from Biden and Harris to discuss hurricane relief efforts, and declined to join Biden to survey the damage in Florida.
“It’s just utterly irresponsible and it is selfish and it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first,” Harris said on the tarmac.
Support Free Journalism
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
DeSantis has claimed he “didn’t know” Harris called.