In less than a day, donations to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Hurricane Helene relief fund had topped $1.5 million.
The strongest hurricane of the season tore across six Southeastern states, killing at least 133 people, according to the most recent death toll provided by The Associated Press. The states of Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and the Carolinas are struggling to deal with the extensive wreckage and devastation.
At approximately 1 p.m. ET on Monday, Meredith O’Rourke, Trump’s Campaign Finance Director, created a GoFundMe page encouraging “MAGA supporters to offer their financial assistance to their fellow Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene”.
The campaign raised $1,650,810 as of Tuesday morning ET, with former Georgia senator Kelly Loeffler contributing the most money, $500,000.
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“Where’s Kamala?” Trump’s team spokesperson Steven Cheung asked when Newsweek called him for more information. For a response, Newsweek has reached out to Kamala Harris’s campaign, the Democratic nominee for president.
Speaking on Monday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters, Vice President Harris said, “Our nation is with you,” despite having not yet visited the impacted areas. No matter how long it takes, we’ll keep doing everything in our power to support your rehabilitation and reconstruction.”
During a visit to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday, Trump slammed President Biden’s administration’s response to the disaster, claiming that state Governor Brian Kemp was “having a hard time” phoning Biden to negotiate federal emergency relief.
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However, Kemp had earlier that day informed reporters that during his Sunday night conversation with Biden, the president advised him to “call him directly, which [Kemp] appreciates, if there’s other things [Georgia] needs.”
According to a pool report from the White House, Biden criticized Trump’s remarks, calling them “irresponsible” and “simply not true.” “[Trump is] lying, and the governor told him he was lying,” Biden continued.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump added that he had heard allegations that “the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, were going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”
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During a news briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refuted this, stating that FEMA has rescued and assisted about 1,400 individuals throughout the affected areas.
“It doesn’t matter which state it is,” she declared. Whether a state is red or blue, it is FEMA’s responsibility to send food, generators, and lifesaving supplies there.”
Biden’s choice to stay at his Delaware beach property for the previous week instead of traveling to the storm-affected areas has drawn criticism. At a press conference on Monday, he stated that he would like to visit a few locations later this week, but that it would be “disruptive if [he] did right now.”
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