Donald Trump and his campaign continue to try and capitalize on the tragedy caused by Hurricane Helene that ravaged southeastern states last week by blaming the Biden administration for their response to the disaster.
On Monday, Trump visited Valdosta, Georgia and falsely told reporters that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) had been “calling the president [but] hasn’t been able to get him.”
“I guess they’re not being responsive, the federal government is not being responsive,” Trump said, according to Mediaite.
“They’re having a very hard time getting the, getting the president on the phone,” he continued. “He won’t get on and of course the vice president, she’s out someplace campaigning, looking for money. So they got to be, they have to be focused over here……..The governor is doing a good job, but he’s having a hard time getting the president on the phone. They’re being very non-responsive.”
Except, Kemp had told reporters hours earlier about a conversation he had with Biden on Sunday afternoon.
“The president just called me yesterday afternoon,” the governor said earlier Monday. “I missed him and I called him right back. And he just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’”
The White House had also announced that Biden spoke by phone on Sunday night with Kemp, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), as well as Scott Matheson, mayor of Valdosta, Georgia, and Florida Emergency Management Director John Louk.
The hurricane’s death toll has risen to 116 since it made landfall as a dangerous Category 4 storm in Florida on Thursday night.
At least 25 people in Georgia have been killed, Kemp said. Deaths have also been reported in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Biden said earlier Monday that he and Harris will travel to hurricane-damaged areas once they can be sure their presence will not disrupt emergency response efforts, CNBC reports.
