Kamala Harris has accused Donald Trump of “playing politics” with disaster relief, as the former president tries to gain a lead in the race for the White House amid growing criticism that he tried to exploit Hurricanes Helen and Milton with lies and misinformation. .
The US vice president’s comments come as evidence mounts that the two storms, which left a trail of death and destruction in several southern states, threaten to derail the countdown to next month’s presidential election.
A town hall meeting in Las Vegas was organized by US Spanish-language television network Univision to address complaints about the federal government’s response. Harris made pointed comments On Trump, even without naming him.
“In this crisis – as with many issues affecting our countrymen – I think it is very important to recognize the dignity of leadership. [of those affected],” she said.
“I have to emphasize that this is not the time for people to play politics,” he said Thursday while campaigning in the swing state of Nevada.
Harris’ comments followed a full-frontal attack on Trump — who accused the White House and Harris, among others, of deliberately withholding aid from Republican constituencies and diverting funds to illegal immigrants — from Joe Biden.
The US president accused Republican presidential candidate Trump of spreading “absolute lies”.
“They’re not very bad Americans in the way they talk about these things,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday. Addressing Trump specifically, he said, “Get a life, man. Help these people.
After the storm hit Georgia and North Carolina, Trump and his running mate, Ohio JD, accused Biden and Harris of deliberately engineering an inadequate response to Hurricane Helen in Republican-voting areas. Vance has been heavily criticized by the US senator. Two swing states are crucial to the outcome of the Nov. 5 election — even as fellow Republican politicians applaud the recovery effort.
The former president called the recovery worse than the response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the surrounding area in 2005 — killing 1,400 people — and left an indelible stain on George W. Bush’s presidency.
“This hurricane is a bad one, and Kamala Harris left them stranded,” he said at a rally in Juneau, Wisconsin. “It’s the worst response we’ve ever seen to a storm or a disaster or a hurricane. Maybe even worse than Katrina, isn’t that hard to beat?”
Harris has taken some time off the campaign trail this month to participate in White House Situation Room briefings and meet with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff responding to hurricanes. Helena is the deadliest since Katrina.
After the newsletter promotion
Some Democratic strategists fear that the need to respond to the twin storms is costing Harris prime time in his quest to defeat Trump as the campaign enters its final weeks.
Deanne Criswell, director of FEMA, warned that the onslaught of misinformation and conspiracy theories was “the worst I’ve ever seen” and was hampering relief efforts.
With polls showing the race is tighter than ever, Trump has focused on Harris. “She didn’t send anything or anyone. Days went by. There was no help as men, women and children drowned,” he said at a rally in Pennsylvania.
He has placed special emphasis on North Carolina, where polls show the two candidates are neck-and-neck and has Democratic governor Roy Cooper. Some Republican politicians have condemned the spread of misinformation, but generally did not mention Trump by name.
Harris told CNN on Wednesday. “It’s dangerous — obviously, anyone who sees themselves as a leader will mislead people who are desperate and those desperate people won’t get the help they need,” he said.
