U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris claimed on Tuesday, October 8, that former US President Donald Trump lacks empathy for people after criticizing the federal response to Hurricane Helene.
Following Hurricane Helene, and as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, Trump has repeatedly alleged, without evidence, that the White House is diverting disaster relief funds to unrelated migrant initiatives. While FEMA manages grants for housing and assisting migrants, this is a distinct account unconnected to disaster relief money.
Trump has also consistently criticized the Biden administration’s reaction to Helene, alleging an anti-Republican bias in how President Joe Biden and Harris are handling the issue.
Harris mentioned traveling to Georgia and North Carolina to assess the aftermath of the hurricane, highlighting the “pain” and “shock” that people are still experiencing. Helene has killed at least 235 people, and Milton is set to pound Florida in the following days after fast developing into a Category 5 storm. It is predicted to remain a Category 4 storm until it makes landfall on Wednesday night.
“It’s profound, and it is the height of irresponsibility and frankly callousness. … Lives are literally at stake right now,” Harris said during an interview on ABC’s “The View.” “I mean we’re talking about real human beings and their lives and they’re losing everything, everything.”
She added, “The idea that somebody would be playing political games for the sake of himself – but this is so consistent about Donald Trump.”
“He puts himself before the needs of others. I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a leader is not to beat people down, it’s to lift people up, especially in a time of crisis,” she added.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has also lamented the state of disinformation around relief efforts to date.
“I’m going to divorce the disinformation that is being spread from any one individual and just say this: Disinformation harms survivors of a disaster because they lose trust in their government and they don’t seek the assistance that they need and to which they are entitled and that we can deliver,” Mayorkas said on CNN on Tuesday.
