Donald Trump trashed the Biden and Harris response to hurricane Helene claiming “There’s nobody that’s handled a hurricane or storm worse than what they’re doing right now.”
Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction across North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.
President Biden and Harris reacted by deploying 1,000 soldiers to support search and rescue operations and deliver essential commodities to the states, and had FEMA ship over 8.5 million meals, more than 7 million liters of water, 150 generators, and over 220,000 tarps to aid response efforts
Biden also sent more than 4,800 personnel from the federal workforce to support state response efforts. And the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established medical treatment sites at hospitals in North Carolina.
Restoring Power and Communications
Federal efforts to restore power cut the number of outages by 65% from its peak of 4.6 million. FEMA, the FCC, and private telecommunications providers are establishing temporary cell sites to allow roaming.
Financial Assistance
President Biden has approved Major Disaster declarations for North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia, allowing individuals to apply for FEMA assistance.
Trump Tries to Capitalize Politically from Helene by Claiming Biden gets Poor Reviews
Yet Donald Trump is seeking to capitalize politically on the devastation by falsely claiming that Biden and Harris “are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they’re handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina.”
Trump’s wrong. Biden’s response to the hurricane has received bipartisan praise from political leaders in affected states. Trump lied that Georgia GOP Gov. Kemp couldn’t get Biden on the phone, though Kemp said that he had already spoken to Biden.
Praise from Republican governors
Republican governors in the states hit by Helene praised Biden’s response. Republican South Carolina Gov. McMaster said federal assistance had “been superb,” noting that Biden and Transportation Secretary Buttigieg called and told him to let them know whatever the state needed. “So we’re getting assistance, and we’re asking for everything we need,” said McMaster.
Republican Virginia Gov. Younkin said “I’m incredibly appreciative of the rapid response and the cooperation from the federal team at FEMA.” He specifically thanked Biden, among others, in a press release.
Republican Tennessee Gov. Lee said the response to his emergency declaration “was quick from the federal government.” At a Tuesday press conference, Lee spoke of a “rush” of federal officials to local emergency management agencies, local officials said, with tears in their eyes.
One would think that, if there ever were ever a time for bipartisan support of an all-out effort to help victims of a devastating multi-state disaster, as from the destruction caused by hurricane Helene, it would be now; but shamefully, not for Donald Trump.
