how disaster invites itself into the American presidential campaign

Donald Trump, who went to meet the victims, accused Joe Biden of “deliberately not helping people in Republican areas”. The president told him that he was lying and must go to the affected regions on Wednesday.

Enormous material damage and potential political collateral damage. Storm Helene crossed six states in the southeastern United States, killing at least 130 people and leading to the disappearance of “600 people”according to figures transmitted by Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House Homeland Security Advisor, Monday September 30.

Arriving through Florida, the level 4 hurricane (on a scale of 5) also crossed South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia. These last two are part of swing statesthese key states in the presidential election of November 5. The damage recorded quickly shifted the consequences of the disaster onto the political arena, where Donald Trump criticized Joe Biden’s management of the situation.

The Republican candidate arrived Monday in Valdosta, a disaster-stricken town in Georgia. Red cap crossed out with the slogan Make America Great Again (“make America great again”) on his head, the billionaire pledged to “bring plenty of relief materials, including fuel, equipment and water” to those in need. He even discussed with Elon Musk, to whom he is close, the possibility of to deploy its Starlink satellite internet service in the region, with the connection of hundreds of thousands of homes disrupted by power cuts. In the process, a spokesperson for the White House assured on the social network “already in progress”.

Although he refused to talk about politics, Donald Trump still sent a few barbs to his Democratic adversaries, accusing the federal state of not being “not responsive”. Earlier, he had accused the Democratic government and authorities in North Carolina of “deliberately not helping people in Republican areas”. An accusation refuted by the governor of the state, Ray Cooper. “If you need help, we will provide it,” he assured. “If there was ever a time to come together and put politics aside, it’s now.”

The state of North Carolina is traditionally a hotly contested state in elections. In 2020, Donald Trump won by 70,000 votes, recalls HuffPost. The votes in Georgia are also very close, since Donald Trump lost by only 11,000 votes to Joe Biden in the last election. After this result, he also cried conspiracy, denounced fraud and even put pressure on the person responsible for the presidential election in this state. He was ultimately charged with attempting to manipulate the election.

From Georgia, Donald Trump congratulated Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who “does a very good job”even if, according to the billionaire, the local elected official had had “trouble reaching the president on the phone”reported the New York Times. An assertion contradicted earlier in the day, since Brian Kemp said that he and the president had spoken on Sunday. “He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’the governor told the dailyand I told him, ‘You know, we have what we need. We will follow the federal process.”

Attacked on his management of the disaster, Joe Biden came out of his reserve to attack the billionaire. “He’s lying”he thundered.

“What makes me angry [c’est qu’il] implies that we are not doing everything possible. (…) It’s wrong and it’s irresponsible.”

Joe Biden

in front of the press

He assured the people of his unwavering support. “I spent at least two hours on the phone yesterday [pour gérer la situation]just like the day before.he retorted, assuring that the federal authorities would be “there as long as necessary”. The president said Monday that he plans to ask Congress for additional funding, according to the New York Timesand assured that he would travel to North Carolina on Wednesday. He did not do it earlier so as not to disrupt the relief operations, he justified.

In addition to Joe Biden, Donald Trump also attacked his rival for the November election, Kamala Harris. On the social network X, he asserted that with this administration, the needs of Americans “always came last”.

He criticized him for being “on the move, campaigning”particularly for collection events in California, “while large parts of our country have been devastated by this massive hurricane”reports the New York Times. The vice-president, however, canceled campaign events to hold a meeting on Monday and briefly visited the headquarters of the federal emergency management agency to show her support for the disaster victims.

“Our nation stands with you and our administration will continue to do everything we can to help you recover and rebuild, no matter how long it takes”she assured on X. She added to the press that she planned to go to the affected regions “as soon as possible without disrupting emergency response operations”specifies New York Times. “This must be the highest priority and first order of business”she concluded.