President Biden spoke by phone with Florida's elected officials Wednesday night as the powerful and extremely dangerous Hurricane Milton slams into the state.
The president also spoke with Democratic and Republican senators from states hit hard by Hurricane Helen, which devastated the Southeast about two weeks ago.
“I have directed my team to do everything we can to save lives and help our communities before, during and after the hurricane,” Biden said at the end of his long speech. day to oversee the federal government's response to the storm.
And the President said, “My most important message today is to those in the affected areas: Please listen to your local authorities and follow all safety…directions and evacuation orders. “It's serious, very serious,” he said.
Milton slams in Florida, Biden cancels overseas trip
President Joe Biden speaks about the federal response to Hurricane Helen and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, October 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
With less than four weeks left until November's election day, the race to succeed Biden in the White House has settled into a close contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump, with the two hardest-hit candidates coming in close behind. It was settled. The politics of federal disaster relief are once again at the center of campaigns in North Carolina and Georgia, starting with Helen, among the seven major battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 election.
President Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden and Harris for nearly two weeks, accusing them of being incompetent to lead the federal government's response to a series of deadly hurricanes.
Eye of the storm: Hurricanes impact Harris-Trump presidential election
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.”
President Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in battleground Pennsylvania, dropped another political bombshell on Harris, saying, “She just led the worst rescue operation in history in North Carolina…calling it the worst in history.” ' he claimed.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Riverfront Sports on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Julia Demarie Nikinson) (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nickinson)
And while increasing the volume of his inflammatory rhetoric around the combustible issue of illegal immigration, the former president falsely claimed that FEMA diverted disaster relief funds and spent them on illegal immigrants in the United States. I made my claim again.
“You know where they put the money, illegal immigrants are coming,” Trump said as a crowd of MAGA supporters booed loudly.
Click here for the latest FOX News report on the storm
Hours earlier, as the president and vice president received an update from FEMA and other federal agencies on storm preparedness in Florida and relief efforts across the Southeast, Biden said, “We will respond.'' “We have made available an unprecedented number of assets.” As we face this crisis, we're going to keep at it until the job is done. ”
Biden also accused Trump of leading an “onslaught of lies.”
The president condemned the comments made by Trump and other Republicans, saying they were “beyond ridiculous” and “must stop.”
Harris, who replaced Biden as the top Democrat on the 2024 ticket in July, gave a similar message in an interview with the Weather Channel on Wednesday.
“Now is not the time to just point fingers at each other as Americans,” Harris said. “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.”
For the latest FOX News weather updates on Hurricane Milton, go here.
But earlier this week, Harris and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, got into a back-and-forth over whether he ignored her hurricane-related calls.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris greets those affected by Hurricane Helen on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 in Augusta, Georgia. Augusta Mayor Garnet Johnson looks on on the right. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer) (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer)
The vice president called DeSantis “selfish,” and the governor accused Harris of “political gamesmanship.”
“Natural disasters present both danger and promise for presidential candidates,” Colin Reed, a longtime Republican strategist and veteran of multiple Republican presidential campaigns, told Fox News.
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“This is an opportunity for the incumbent to demonstrate competency and stable leadership, and to demonstrate that government can function at the core level during a time of crisis,” Reid said.
Brandon Marlowe walks through high water flooding a road after Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Sarasota area of Fort Myers, Florida, on October 9, 2024. After a Category 3 hurricane makes landfall, people are waiting to assess the damage. (Joe Radle/Getty Images)
However, things do not always go according to the current president's scenario.
Then-President George H.W. criticized.
Ten years later, his son, then-President George W. Bush, made a political turnaround in Florida during his 2004 reelection thanks to his aggressive response to Hurricane Charlie, which struck in August of that year. enjoyed it.
Bush narrowly won reelection in part due to his success in the Sunshine State, but the following year, the failure of Louisiana's response to Hurricane Katrina dealt a major blow to the Bush administration's image in storm response.
When he ran for re-election in 2012, then-President Barack Obama's aggressive response to Superstorm Sandy, which hit the East Coast just days before the election, likely helped him win.
“Without playing a real role in dealing with Helen and now Milton, Vice President Harris is caught in the middle, wary of being seen as getting too close to a deeply unpopular administration,” Reid said. “However, I am fully aware that my failure will be judged as follows.” Her failures and political baggage will be carried over the next three weeks. ”
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