Harris interrupts campaign schedule to visit Georgia, North Carolina in hurricane aftermath

Vice President Harris is expected to interrupt some of her previously scheduled campaign appearances this week to visit Georgia and North Carolina in the aftermath of damage done by Hurricane Helene.

Harris will travel to Georgia on Wednesday and then to North Carolina “in the coming days,” according to a White House official. Both critical swing states this election cycle have been wrecked with storm damage, with many people left without power and water indefinitely.

Harris will survey the impacts of the storm and receive an on-the-ground briefing while in Georgia. She is also expected to give remarks with updates on the federal actions taken to help Georgia and other impacted states recover.

The vice president was scheduled to take a bus tour in Philadelphia with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Wednesday. Walz instead will be joined by Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and continue with the bus tour the day after the vice presidential debate on Tuesday, as planned.

Harris returned to Washington early from a West Coast campaign swing on Monday to visit Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters. She has also been in contact with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and has reached out to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), according to her office.

Former President Trump, the GOP nominee for president, traveled to Georgia on Monday to assess storm damage. Trump criticized Biden’s response to the hurricane during the trip, while claiming Kemp had trouble reaching Biden. But Kemp and Biden confirmed the two spoke Sunday.

Biden reacted angrily to Trump’s claims, calling him out for “lying” and said “that’s simply not true, and it’s irresponsible.”

The president plans to visit North Carolina on Wednesday. He also said he would travel to Georgia and Florida “as soon as possible” to survey damage, stressing that he doesn’t want to interfere with recovery efforts.