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. 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 respon.
