Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday called former president Donald Trump “incredibly irresponsible” for spreading falsehoods about the federal response to Hurricane Helene ‘s destruction, offering especially sharp words as a new storm bears down on Florida with just weeks until Election Day.
“There’s a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former president about what is available, particularly to the survivors of Helene,” Ms Harris told reporters before boarding Air Force Two to fly to New York.
“It’s extraordinarily irresponsible. It’s about him. It’s not about you.”
Helene has killed more than 220 people in six states, and Category 5 Hurricane Milton is on a path towards Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Mr Trump has made a series of false claims in the wake of Helene, including saying incorrectly that the federal government is intentionally withholding aid to Republican disaster victims.
He also falsely claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) had run out of money because all of it had gone to programmes for immigrants in the country illegally.
Harris said “the reality is that Fema has so many resources that are available to folks who desperately need them now, and resources that are about helping people get back on their feet and rebuild and have places to go”.
“People are entitled to these resources, and it is critically important that people apply for the help that is there to support,” the vice president added.
“All those resources were created for just these types of moments, in an emergency situation, knowing that folks are entitled to have the relief that they so rightly need.”
Mr Trump also said during a visit Valdosta, Georgia, last week that President Joe Biden was “sleeping” and not responding to calls from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. Mr Biden had, in fact, spoken with Mr Kemp and said of Mr Trump: “He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying.”
Ms Harris also criticised another high-profile Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, suggesting he is “playing political games” and engaging in “political gamesmanship” in Helene’s aftermath.
Ms Harris’s office says the vice president reached out to Mr DeSantis after the storm. Mr DeSantis said on Monday afternoon that he “didn’t know that she had called” and “they didn’t call me”.
“It wasn’t anything anybody in my office did in saying that it was political,” Mr DeSantis said.
But Ms Harris, asked about Mr DeSantis, said “people are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations … is utterly irresponsible”.
“It is selfish and it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first,” Ms Harris said without naming Mr DeSantis.
Mr DeSantis later spoke with Mr Biden to discuss preparations for Milton. The President, according to the White House, asked Mr DeSantis “to call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts”.
Florida’s governor later responded to Ms Harris, telling Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity that the vice president was “delusional” for criticising him when he has been focused on the people of his state.
“She has no role in this,” said Mr DeSantis, who noted he had been in contact with Mr Biden and federal officials.
“In fact, she’s been vice president for three and a half years. I’ve dealt with a number of storms under this administration, and she has never contributed anything to any of these efforts.”
Mr DeSantis said Ms Harris was “trying to blunder into this”, adding that he had worked well with Mr Biden and Mr Trump during past hurricanes and the vice president is “the first one who’s trying to politicise the storm and she’s doing that just because of her campaign”.
“I don’t have time for political games,” Mr DeSantis said.
