The Daily Populous Tuesday October 1st, 2024 morning edition
Authored by nj.com and submitted by njdotcom

Georgia’s Republican governor praised Democratic President Joe Biden for reaching out to him in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s deadly devastation as the state and surrounding areas scramble to recover from the disaster.

Former President Donald Trump told a different story when he landed there to survey the damage.

“The governor’s doing a very good job. He’s having a hard time getting the president on the phone,” Trump told reporters. “The federal government is not being responsive.”

Former President Trump arrives in Georgia: "The Governor's doing a very good job. He's having a hard time getting the President on the phone...The federal government is not being responsive...the Vice President, she's out someplace campaigning looking for money." pic.twitter.com/2evEuyW6VF — CSPAN (@cspan) September 30, 2024

Here’s what Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp had to say about Biden and the feds:

“The president just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and called him right back and he just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, ‘We got what we need. We’ll work through the federal process. He offered that if there’s other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that,” Kemp said.

“We’ve had FEMA embedded with us since a day or two before the storm hit in our state operating center in Atlanta. We’ve got a great relationship with them,” he said.

The death toll surpassed 100 people, 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. North Carolina and Georgia, two of the states hit by the storm, are key battlegrounds in November’s presidential election.

The White House announced Biden spoke by phone on Sunday night with Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as Scott Matheson, mayor of Valdosta, Georgia, and Florida Emergency Management Director John Louk.

During a Monday morning press conference, Kemp confirmed he spoke with Biden.

Still, Trump escalated his criticism on Truth Social, his social media website, where he said that he’s bringing “lots of relief material, including fuel, equipment, water, and other things” to Georgia.

The White House said Harris would visit impacted areas “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” She also spoke with Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and she received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell while she was traveling.

FEMA uses the disaster relief fund to coordinate the federal response to major disasters. It pays for debris removal, the repair of public infrastructure and financial assistance for survivors, among other things. The temporary spending bill passed and signed into law last week pumped about $20 billion into the fund and gave FEMA the ability to spend that money more quickly.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.

ForeskinWhatskin on September 30th, 2024 at 20:47 UTC »

Yet, republican voters will quickly forget who helped them in their time of need, and ignore the fact that project 2025 aims to eliminate programs which will help people affected by disasters.

The_Navy_Sox on September 30th, 2024 at 20:37 UTC »

It's probably confusing because he didn't purposely withhold funding so that people would die and then he could blame the governor, like trump did with Covid in Chicago and New York. That is going to be something that sticks with me until the day I die.

Ok_Guarantee6013 on September 30th, 2024 at 20:36 UTC »

It's funny how Trump is trying to twist the narrative when even the Republican governor is praising Biden for quick aid guess he can't stand the positive attention the Dems are getting!