The death toll is rising a day after Hurricane Milton devastated parts of Florida, leaving millions without power or running water.
As Florida’s recovery efforts reach a climax, a war of words continues between President Biden and former President Trump over the federal government’s response to Milton and Hurricane Helen, which hit the Southeast two weeks ago.
As President Trump continues to accuse Biden and Vice President Harris of being slow and ineffective in steering the government’s bulwark program, the president has hit back again.
“Vice President Harris and I are in constant communication with state and local officials. We are providing them with everything they need,” Biden said Thursday.
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President Biden speaks and provides an update on the impact of Hurricane Milton and the ongoing response at the South Court Auditorium in the White House complex on October 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
With less than four weeks left until Election Day, Harris and Trump are locked in a race to succeed Biden in the White House and a close showdown in North Carolina, two of the hardest-hit states. Trapped. And in Georgia — among seven key battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 election — the politics of federal disaster relief are once again front and center in the campaign.
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For almost two weeks, President Trump has been increasing his rhetoric.
“This is in response to the worst storm and hurricane disaster in American history,” President Trump said in a social media post Tuesday.
The former president on Wednesday pointed to the federal government’s much-criticized initial response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as slow and ineffective, calling it “the worst hurricane response since Katrina.”
On Thursday, Trump continued his attacks at a campaign event in Michigan. He praised Southern Republican governors for doing a “great job” in responding to the storm, arguing that “the federal government, on the other hand, is not doing what it should be doing, especially in North Carolina.” They have made those people suffer unjustly and unjustly. ”
The former president also raised the volume of his inflammatory rhetoric around the combustible issue of illegal immigration, falsely claiming that FEMA diverted funds meant for disaster relief and used them to fund illegal immigrants in the United States. I have made repeated claims.
“You know where they put the money, illegal immigrants are coming,” Trump said at a Wednesday rally to loud boos from a crowd of MAGA supporters.
DeSantis and Harris engage in hurricane call
Hours later, Biden fired back, accusing the Republican presidential candidate of leading an “onslaught of lies.”
Mr. Biden called the comments by Mr. Trump and other Republicans “outrageous” and “must stop.”
President Biden meets with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Helen at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina, on October 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
On Thursday, Biden told reporters that Trump needed to “save lives and help these people” as he updated the federal government’s hurricane response efforts.
“The public will hold him accountable” for making false claims about FEMA’s ability to assist storm victims.
Trump campaign press secretary Caroline Levitt responded to the criticism, saying in a statement to Fox News on Thursday that Trump is “working hard every day to save this country from the mess that Biden and Kamala have gotten us into.” ” he said.
President Trump’s son Eric also highlighted in a social media post that his family had opened one of their hotels in Florida to house more than 200 linemen helping in the storm’s aftermath. did.
President Trump also launched a GoFundMe campaign last week for victims of Hurricane Helen in Georgia, which has raised more than $7 million so far.
But his criticism of the federal government’s response also drew a rebuke from Harris.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Harris arrives at LaGuardia Airport in New York on October 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
“This is not a time for us as Americans to just point fingers at each other,” the vice president said in a Weather Channel interview Wednesday. “If you consider yourself a leader, now is the time to engage in work that gives people confidence that we are all in this together and that we have the resources and ability to work together on their behalf.”
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Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who met with Biden on Thursday morning after the storm hit, appeared to praise his administration’s efforts to deal with the storm.
“I spoke with the president this morning,” DeSantis said during a 24-hour briefing. “He said he wants to help. So he said, send us any requests you have and he wants to help us get the job done. So, federal, state, local I am grateful to be able to cooperate beyond local government boundaries.”I would like to work with the government and put the people first. ”
FOX News’ Kirill Clark and Matteo Sina contributed to this report.
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