Biden, Harris visit storm-hit North Carolina, Georgia
President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took separate tours of the south to view the catastrophic damage from Hurricane Helene
What happened
President Joe Biden took an aerial tour over Asheville, North Carolina, Wednesday to view the devastation from Hurricane Helene. He also ordered the Pentagon to deploy 1,000 active-duty troops to help deliver food, water and other services, joining thousands of federal emergency personnel and National Guard members working in areas hit by the storm. Vice President Kamala Harris took a separate trip to Augusta, Georgia.
Who said what
"The president and I have been paying close attention from the beginning to what we need to do to make sure the federal resources hit the ground as quickly as possible," Harris said in Augusta. "We are here for the long haul." She said the federal government would cover 100% of debris removal and other emergency measures for three months. Harris also handed out food at a community center and toured the local emergency operations center, telling first responders, "I'm here to thank you and to listen."
The vice president's Georgia trip, where she tested out the "role of consoler-in-chief," offered a "stark contrast to the overtly political posture Donald Trump took" during his visit to the state on Monday, Politico said. But "Trump's knack for politicking off disasters has proved a vulnerability for the Biden administration" in the past, The New York Times said, pointing to Trump's 2023 visit to East Palestine, Ohio, after a toxic train derailment.
What next?
Biden is scheduled to visit "impacted communities" in Georgia and Florida today, the White House said. Harris is putting back on her campaign hat to visit Wisconsin today and Michigan on Friday, though she is "later set to travel to North Carolina to assess storm damage," the Times said.
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