Volunteers stage water for people in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
POLITICAL (EYE OF THE) STORM
Hurricane Helene is scrambling Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s campaign plans. The only request from some communities affected by the storm? Please don’t come here yet.
- More than 130 people have been killed across six states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia — after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeastern U.S. over the last few days. Local communities are working hard to restore power and dole out fresh water to millions of people, warning that it’ll be a long time before damaged homes and properties are rebuilt. Rescue efforts for scores of people are still ongoing.
- The situation is so bad that local officials don’t want anyone who might complicate the effort to show up: “I’m committed to traveling to impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it’d be disruptive if I did it right now,” President Joe Biden told reporters this morning. “We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis.” Speaking with Politico, Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) said he told the president not to come because the state doesn’t need “elected officials that require a lot of security and attention.”
- Former President Donald Trump, who needs a lot of Secret Service protection these days, is in the region anyways. He went to Georgia today to tour the damage and brought “truckloads of different items, from oil to water,” he said while speaking at a podium behind a brick wall, supposedly made with debris from a destroyed building nearby. Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) also surveyed the hurricane’s path and helped coordinate relief efforts over the weekend.
Politicians often use times of turmoil to show their leadership and solidarity with impacted communities. With the November election looming, Harris and Trump are sparring over their actions and public remarks about the hurricane.
- “We’re with you all the way, and if we were there, we’d be helping you. You’ll be okay,” Trump said during a rally on Friday, talking about states hit by the storm. The Harris campaign’s X account, KamalaHQ, tweeted a video of his remarks with a caption suggesting that Trump was downplaying the severity of the situation. Democrats are also pointing to the far-right Project 2025 agenda, which would get rid of federal weather tracking used for emergency response. His allies are accusing Democrats of taking the comments out of context and reiterated Trump’s claim that he isn’t associated with Project 2025.
- Trump has a history of tying visits to disaster zones to politics. His campaign touts his visit to East Palestine, Ohio — where a train derailment leaked toxins into the community — last year as a key moment in his candidacy while the Biden administration’s response to the situation was criticized. Trump also visited areas affected by hurricanes and tornadoes as president… like when he tossed paper towels to the crowd while in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
- Over the weekend, Trump called out Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left lunatic donors” in California as the hurricane hit, saying that she should be visiting affected areas. Harris canceled campaign events in Nevada, flying back to Washington today to attend briefings about the hurricane. She’ll visit the region “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations,” the White House said. “I remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone,” she said in a separate statement.
There’s an appropriate time for politicians to visit areas struck by disaster — when they aren’t going to distract from relief efforts.
ABOUT THAT ‘CONCEPT’
Chances are you’ve seen the memes about Donald Trump saying he has a “concept of a plan” for Americans’ health care. He won’t give any details (a great sign), so the Harris campaign is trying to define the “concept” first — hoping to provoke Trump into talking more about it.
The campaign released a 43-page report today, drawing on recent interviews from Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Trump’s running mate: Trump’s plan involves “eliminating health insurance and raising costs for tens of millions of Americans, including those with preexisting conditions, seniors, small business owners, working families, pregnant women, and kids,” the report says.
Democrats are using the report to try to mess with Vance’s head before his debate with Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Harris’s running mate, on Tuesday night, according to a senior Harris campaign official. The campaign wants to force Trump and Vance to more directly address the proposals.
The Democratic National Committee is also tying Vance’s health care stances to Project 2025 ahead of the debate. The organization will blast out examples of how MAGAworld would roll back women’s privacy, according to a release first shared with What A Day.
“Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda should terrify every American: banning abortion nationwide, threatening doctors with jail time, restricting access to contraception, and even monitoring women’s pregnancies,” DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland said in a statement. “This isn’t about policy, it’s about control.”
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- The New York Times editorial board, on its endorsement of Kamala Harris over Donald Trump
NEWS NEWS NEWS
Israel is planning a “limited ground operation” into Lebanon, which could start at any time, to combat Hezbollah militants, the Washington Post writes. American officials don’t believe it will be a major invasion, per the New York Times. The imminent plan comes days after Israel killed Hezbollah’s leader, likely using U.S.-made bombs.
Donald Trump proposed a “violent day” of policing to end crime: “One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,” Trump said at a rally on Sunday. His campaign said he was kidding, but joking about reenacting “The Purge” isn’t my idea of funny…
Kamala Harris is “underwater” in Michigan, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told donors last week, citing internal polling. Some polls may show Harris struggling in the swing state, but Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) thinks her campaign is doing everything correctly: “I think what they’re doing right now is the right thing … they’re coming to the state,” Peters told the What A Day podcast. Those two things can both be true!
JD Vance has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration’s $1 trillion plan to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure — but has sought more than $200 million in funds through the law while senator. Vance has a special talent for saying one thing, and doing the other. Like calling Trump “America’s Hitler” then being his running mate.
Ryan Routh pleaded not guilty in federal court today, on charges that he tried to kill Trump at a Florida golf course earlier this month.
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