Donald Trump spoke in front of a furniture store gutted by Hurricane Helene in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday, claiming falsely that Georgia’s governor had not been able to reach Joe Biden.
Upon landing in Valdosta, Trump claimed to reporters the president had been “sleeping” and that Brian Kemp, the governor, had been “calling the president and hasn’t been able to get him”. He repeated the false claim when speaking in front of the store.
Kemp refuted the allegation earlier in the day. He said he had been playing phone tag with vice-president Kamala Harris, but also said: “The president just called me yesterday afternoon and he just said: ‘Hey, what do you need?’ … He offered that if there’s other things we need, just to call him directly, which, I appreciate that.”
During the White House press briefing on Monday, the homeland security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said the president had offered Kemp “anything” Georgia needed in terms of storm response.
“So, if the governor would like to speak to the president again, of course, the president will take his call,” Sherwood-Randall said.
When a pool reporter on Monday evening questioned the president on Trump’s comments, Biden angrily interjected before the question was finished.
“He’s lying and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told him he’s lying. I’ve spoken to the governor, spent time with him, and he told him he’s lying. I don’t know why he does it … that’s simply not true, and it’s irresponsible.”
Trump traveled to the area with evangelist Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and truckloads of relief supplies in tow.
“We brought many, many wagons of resources,” he said, without really describing what those resources were beyond a tanker of gasoline and some water. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association did not respond to a request for comment, though its website notes that it has sent chaplains to the affected areas.
“We’re here today to stand with complete solidarity with the people of Georgia and all those suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” Trump said in front of the collapsing brick storefront of Chez What, a furniture and fashion collective in Valdosta. Trump was flanked by Lt Gov Burt Jones and local elected officials.
Valdosta is in south Georgia and still digging out from Hurricane Helene. At least 25 people died in the state as a result of the storm. At the peak of Helene’s destruction, about 1.3 million Georgians lost power, Kemp said Monday at a briefing in Augusta, a few hours before Trump arrived. Nearly 500,000 still were without electricity as of Monday morning, Kemp said.
There has, at least so far, been no repeat of a scene from a disaster photo op seven years ago in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when the former president threw paper towels into a crowd two weeks after Hurricane Maria left 93% of the island without power.
Harris canceled events Monday and took a briefing from Fema in Washington DC.
“President Biden and I remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone,” she said. “Federal personnel are on the ground to support families that have been impacted so that critical resources like food, water and generators are available. We have also approved emergency declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee – making resources and funding available to maximize our coordinated response efforts at the local, state and federal levels.”
