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President Joe Biden angrily hit back at Donald Trump’s false accusations after the former president and Republican presidential nominee leveled a baseless claim about the federal response to Hurricane Helene on his social media platform.
Earlier on Monday, Trump suggested that Biden and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper were ignoring the devastation wrought by the storm, which has killed over 100 people and left hundreds missing and unaccounted for in the Tar Heel state.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that he “[didn’t] like the reports” he was allegedly getting about the federal and state governments “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas” hit by the hurricane.
Asked to respond as he addressed reporters after receiving a briefing from Cooper and Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell in the Oval Office, Biden interjected, cutting off the question from The Independent to denounce Trump’s false statements.
“He's lying, and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told me he was lying. I've spoken to the governor, I spent time with him, and he told me he's lying. I don't know why he does this,” he said.
Biden added that he doesn’t care what Trump says about him, but he stressed that what he cares about is ”what he communicates to people that are in need” when he “implies that we're not doing everything possible.”
“We are,” he said. “I assume you heard the Republican governor of Georgia talk about that. He was on the phone with me more than once. So that's simply not true, and it's irresponsible.”
Biden also told reporters he would visit North Carolina to survey damage on Wednesday. He previously said he was holding off on making the trip to the storm-ravaged state until he could be sure traveling there would not divert resources needed for the response and recovery efforts.
On Monday, government officials and aid groups worked to get supplies to stranded residents in hard-hit areas. While many areas are only accessible by air, some mountainous communities would be receiving food, water, and diapers from dozens of mules.
Speaking from FEMA headquarters in the nation’s capital on Monday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris said 3,300 federal personnel had been deployed to respond to devastated areas.
The Democratic presidential nominee said she would travel to the region when they could do so without disrupting any emergency response operations.
While Trump told a crowd in Georgia that he had spoken with SpaceX founder and billionaire Elon Musk earlier about getting Starlink high-speed internet set up in North Carolina, the White House pointed out FEMA was shipping an additional 140 satellites to assist with communications and infrastructure restoration. There are currently 40 systems available to help with responder communications.
More than 1.7 million customers remained without power late Monday in South Carolina Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida. Utility Duke Energy, which services 8.4 million customers, said some could see it restored by Friday. For others, in places with infrastructure that has been destroyed, the process would be more arduous.
