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President Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of “lying” over the White House’s response to Hurricane Helene, a storm that ripped through the south-eastern US, killing more than 100 people, with about 600 still missing.
The devastation, including widespread flooding and property damage, hit with little more than a month until the US presidential election pitting Trump against Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-president, affecting North Carolina and Georgia, two battleground states.
The Biden administration and local officials have struggled to deliver support to the most affected states areas, where tens of thousands of survivors have been stranded without electricity or running water.
Trump, who rushed to southern Georgia on Monday to speak about the hurricane’s impact, quickly sought to blame Biden and Harris for being slow to react.
“The governor is doing a good job,” Trump said, referring to Georgia Republican governor Brian Kemp. “But he’s having a hard time getting the president on the phone. They’re being very non-responsive.”
But Kemp had no complaints about Biden, saying he had spoken to him and saying the president “offered that if there’s other things we need, just to call him directly, which I appreciate”.
Speaking at the White House on Monday afternoon, an irate Biden blasted Trump for his words. “He’s lying and the governor told him he was lying,” the president said. “The reason I get so angry about it [is] I don’t care about what he says about me, but I care what he communicates to the people that are in need.”
Earlier in the day Biden vowed to deliver all the help that the government could to the communities hit by the storm, in co-ordination with local governors. He also said he expected to request additional disaster relief funding from Congress.
“We’re not leaving until the job is done,” Biden said. “We will be there as long as it takes.”
He said he planned to visit North Carolina on Wednesday but only after it was clear that he and his entourage’s arrival would not disrupt the operations of the first responders. Harris returned to Washington from Nevada, after a series of campaign rallies and fundraising events at the weekend, and met with federal emergency management officials. “The true character of the nation is revealed in moments of hardship,” she said. “We have responded with our best.”
US officials said many communities hit by the storm were isolated so the extent of the damage remained unknown.
Biden did not estimate how much additional funding he would request from Congress for the response to the storm, but lawmakers would have to be called back from the pre-election recess to vote on the aid.
Conservative Republicans have at times objected to federal funding for disaster relief, or insisted the money be offset by spending cuts elsewhere, which could complicate its passage.
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