There is no discount on the war of words between President Biden and Former President Trump over the federal government's response to the devastating hurricanes that hit the Southeast.
After Trump continued to accuse Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of the administration's slow and ineffective attack efforts, the president struck back once again.
Biden told reporters on Thursday that Trump “needs to bring people alive, help them.”
And he argued that “the public will hold him (Trump) accountable” for making false claims about the ability of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to help storm victims.
Son of former president, Eric Trump. Posted in The family opened one of its Florida hotels on Wednesday to more than 200 electricians helping out after the storm.
Trump also launched a GoFundMe campaign for victims of Hurricane Helen in Georgia, which has raised more than $7 million to date.
Consecutive hurricanes shake up presidential races
President Joe Biden speaks and gives an update on the impact and ongoing response to Hurricane Milton in the South Court Auditorium of the White House complex in Washington on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The president spoke Millions of people in Florida were left without power after Hurricane Milton cut a path of destruction through the central and northern parts of the state from Wednesday into Thursday.
Meanwhile, cleanup and recovery efforts continue across the Southeast, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helena about two weeks ago.
Election Day is less than four weeks away In November, Harris and Trump are locked in a showdown with a narrow margin of error in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and in seven key states, including the two states hardest hit by Helen – Carolina North and Georgia – this will probably happen. determine the outcome of the 2024 election, federal disaster relief policy is once again front and center in the campaign.
Click here for an updated report from Fox News on the storm
“Vice President Harris and I are in constant communication with state and local officials. We are giving them everything they need,” Biden emphasized on Thursday.
Republicans were among those the president spoke to in Ron DeSantis' Florida government.
Although DeSantis and Harris have exchanged verbal criticism this week over whether he ignored hurricane-related calls from her, the governor and Biden have worked together on the storm response and relief efforts.
“I spoke to the president this morning,” DeSantis said during one of his numerous briefings on Thursday. “He said he wants to be useful. And so if we have a request, he said, send them to him and he wants to help us get the job done. Therefore, I am grateful to be able to collaborate with federal, state and local governments. and Working together to put people first.”
Despite these comments and others from DeSantis and other top Republican officials in the storm-ravaged Southeast, Trump has consistently criticized Biden and Harris.
Desantis and Harris exchange fire at Hurricane Call
“The worst response to a storm or hurricane disaster in US history,” Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday.
“The worst hurricane response since Katrina,” the former president charged Wednesday, as he pointed to the highly flawed initial federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which was widely criticized for being slow and ineffective.
Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in battleground Pennsylvania, dropped another political bombshell on Harris, arguing that “he led the worst rescue operation in history in North Carolina…they say the worst.”
And the former president once again falsely alleged that FEMA diverted money intended for humanitarian aid and spent it on undocumented immigrants in the United States, while also turning his volume of inflammatory rhetoric to the combustible issue of illegal immigration.
Click here for the latest weather updates from Fox News on Hurricane Milton
“You know where they put their money: illegal immigrants are coming,” Trump said as the crowd of MAGA supporters cheered.
Hours later, Biden reacted, accusing the Republican presidential candidate of leading an “attack of lies.”
Biden complained that the rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans was “beyond ridiculous” and “has to stop.”
But Trump continued the attack at a campaign event in Michigan on Thursday. He praised southern Republican governors for doing a “fantastic job” responding to the storm and argued that “the federal government, on the other hand, hasn’t done what it’s supposed to do, especially in North Carolina. They let these people suffer unjustly, unjustly.” “
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris greets those affected by Hurricane Helen in Augusta, Georgia, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, with Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson, right, looking on. (AP Photo/Caroline Custer) (AP Photo/Caroline Custer)
Harris also criticized Trump in an interview with the Weather Channel on Wednesday.
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“This is not the time for us as Americans to point fingers at each other,” the vice president said. “Anyone who considers themselves a leader should really be in business right now to give people a sense of confidence that we are all working together and that we have the resources and power to work together on their behalf.”
Fox News' Cyril Clarke and Matteo Cina contributed to this report
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