SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) 69制片厂制作传媒 Surveying storm damage in North Carolina, former President on Monday blasted federal emergency responders whose work has been stymied by and a deluge of , but he said he was not concerned that the aftermath of would affect election results in the battleground state.
Trump was asked whether it was helpful to criticize hurricane relief workers after the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently paused work in the area because of reports they could be targeted by militia. He responded by again assailing the agency and repeating the falsehood that the response was hampered because FEMA spent its budget helping people who crossed the border illegally. That claim was weeks ago by U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., who stood behind Trump as he spoke.
69制片厂制作传媒淲ell, I think you have to let people know how they69制片厂制作传媒檙e doing," Trump told reporters in Swannanoa, outside Asheville. 69制片厂制作传媒淚f they were doing a great job, I think we should say that, too, because I think they should be rewarded. ... If they69制片厂制作传媒檙e doing a poor job, we69制片厂制作传媒檙e supposed to not say it?69制片厂制作传媒
Trump's campaign and that of his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, are ramping up their campaigns in the final two weeks before Election Day.
Trump had three stops in North Carolina on Monday. After the Asheville area, he held a rally across the state in Greenville and spoke at a faith leaders event in Concord, where he appealed to Christian voters by repeating his criticism of transgender athletes playing on women's sports teams and his proposal to conduct a large-scale deportation operation. Trump said that during his administration, he fought for Christians 69制片厂制作传媒渓ike no president has ever fought before.69制片厂制作传媒
Harris on Monday ,69制片厂制作传媒 traveling to suburban Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. She held a series of conversations with moderated by GOP strategist Sarah Longwell, publisher of the Bulwark, a commentary site for anti-Trump conservatives, and conservative radio host Charlie Sykes. Trump won those three states in 2016 and lost them in 2020, and Harris could all but lock up the presidency if she swept them.
Cheney, a former Wyoming congressman who lost her seat after she spoke out against Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, offered advice to her fellow Republicans who are uneasy with Trump but not comfortable broadcasting support for a Democrat.
69制片厂制作传媒淵ou can vote your conscience and not ever have to say a word to anybody," Cheney said.
Hurricane Helene displaced thousands of voters
Many North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Helene moved Election Day precincts or changed early voting sites. Thousands of voters remained displaced or without power or water as early voting commenced. Both parties are scrambling to check their turnout operations.
69制片厂制作传媒淲e69制片厂制作传媒檙e working every channel we can, you know?69制片厂制作传媒 Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, a North Carolinian, said. 69制片厂制作传媒淲e69制片厂制作传媒檙e going to be doing phone calls. We69制片厂制作传媒檙e going to be doing direct mail. We69制片厂制作传媒檒l be doing emails and digital 69制片厂制作传媒 basically anything we can do to let people know where to go.69制片厂制作传媒
Despite extensive damage across western North Carolina, Trump said he saw no reason for the storm to cast doubt on the North Carolina election results.
69制片厂制作传媒淣o, I think in a way, it69制片厂制作传媒檚 the opposite,69制片厂制作传媒 Trump said. 69制片厂制作传媒淚 mean, we69制片厂制作传媒檙e so impressed, and I think they have a pretty good system here.69制片厂制作传媒
Republican Renee Kyro, who lives a short drive from , said she knows 69制片厂制作传媒減lenty of Trump supporters who lost everything,69制片厂制作传媒 and others who remain in their homes but don69制片厂制作传媒檛 have reliable internet or phone connections and may not know their polling location.
69制片厂制作传媒淚69制片厂制作传媒檒l go door to door if I have to,69制片厂制作传媒 she said.
State Sen. Natalie Murdock, who doubles as political director for Democrats' coordinated campaign in the state, said the party has the apparatus to reach their target voters in the disaster zone. Field workers in some of Democrats69制片厂制作传媒 two-dozen-plus offices around the state have engaged in recovery efforts, distributing water and other supplies to residents.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, urged Trump not to "share lies or misinformation69制片厂制作传媒 about the storm recovery.
Many storm survivors lost everything, and they want help and truth, Cooper said Monday at a briefing in Asheville.
69制片厂制作传媒淲e should work together to give them both,69制片厂制作传媒 the governor said. 69制片厂制作传媒淪torm recovery cannot be partisan."
Edwards, who represents Asheville and surrounding areas in Congress, put out a long statement last month debunking 69制片厂制作传媒渙utrageous rumors69制片厂制作传媒 that FEMA was halting trucks from bringing in supplies, abandoning rescue efforts to bulldoze , running out of money and more. He did not defend FEMA from Trump69制片厂制作传媒檚 criticism Monday.
Instead, Edwards, who owns McDonald69制片厂制作传媒檚 franchises, presented Trump with what he called a 69制片厂制作传媒淔rench fry certification pin" in a nod to the former president's photo opportunity Sunday at one of the fast-food restaurants.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Trump's FEMA comments 69制片厂制作传媒渄angerous69制片厂制作传媒 and said they had been . She said 5,500 federal personnel were in North Carolina and Florida after Helene and Hurricane Milton and noted that $2 billion in federal assistance had been approved for those affected in North Carolina.
69制片厂制作传媒淭hey are dangerous,69制片厂制作传媒 Jean-Pierre said of Trump69制片厂制作传媒檚 remarks. 69制片厂制作传媒淭hey are unhelpful. It is not what leadership looks like.69制片厂制作传媒
Democrats are running both on Helene and Mark Robinson
Even before Helene, North Carolina was all the more compelling because of its history of split-ticket voting. It69制片厂制作传媒檚 one of the few states that features competitive governor69制片厂制作传媒檚 races concurrent with presidential contests.
Democrats have carried the presidential electoral vote just once since 1992 69制片厂制作传媒 in Barack Obama's narrow win in 2008. Republicans have won just one governor69制片厂制作传媒檚 race in the same span. Four years ago, Cooper won reelection by 4.5 points despite Trump outpacing Biden. He's prevented by term limit laws from running again.
Democrats hope Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson69制片厂制作传媒檚 latest struggles, centered on CNN69制片厂制作传媒檚 revelations that the state's first Black lieutenant governor once called himself a 69制片厂制作传媒淏lack Nazi69制片厂制作传媒 and posted lascivious statements on a porn website, turn thousands of Cooper-Trump voters into supporters of Harris and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein. Robinson has denied the allegations and CNN, calling its report defamatory.
Trump demurred Monday when asked whether voters should support Robinson, whom Trump has endorsed and has referred to as 69制片厂制作传媒淢artin Luther King on steroids.69制片厂制作传媒
69制片厂制作传媒淚69制片厂制作传媒檓 not familiar with the state of the race right now,69制片厂制作传媒 he said. 69制片厂制作传媒淚 haven69制片厂制作传媒檛 seen it.69制片厂制作传媒
Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, Colleen Long in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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