Hurricane Helene is shifting the presidential candidates’ plans this week. Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is cutting short a campaign visit to Las Vegas to return to Washington for briefings. Republican candidate Donald Trump is heading to Georgia to see the storm’s impact.
Hurricane Helene’s death toll is more than 100 people and rising, with some of the worst damage caused by inland flooding in North Carolina. In addition to being humanitarian crises, natural disasters can create political tests for elected officials, particularly in the closing weeks of a presidential campaign. Presidents typically avoid racing toward disaster zones so they don’t interfere with recovery efforts.
The White House said Harris would visit impacted areas “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak about his administration’s response to Hurricane Helene on Monday morning. He plans to visit areas affected by the storm later this week, with efforts to not disrupt response efforts.
—- Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024 . Here’s the latest: The White House on Monday pushed back against an assertion by Donald Trump that President Joe Biden has been unresponsive to Georgia Gov.
Brian Kemp in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Trump earlier on Monday praised Kemp for doing a “very good job” but said he was “having a hard time getting the president on the .