WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are scrambling to revise travel plans and tactics as they face a real-time test of how they cope with unexpected crises: a trifecta of life-threatening weather, a war and a looming dockworker strike that could drive up prices.
Harris’ challenge is to shape a government response without politicizing a moment that calls for bridging national divisions.
Trump’s dilemma is that any condemnation he delivers may call attention to his own actions in 2017, when he blithely tossed paper towels to Puerto Rican residents reeling from Hurricane Maria.
“These storms are make-or-break events for elected leaders when a disaster strikes,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster. “When the election is down to seven swing states that are essentially tied at the moment, and several of those swing states have suffered extraordinary damage from this storm, then any effect at the margins in these swing states could affect the outcome nationally.”
Harris canceled campaign stops and left the trail in Nevada on Monday, hustling back to Washington for an in-person briefing from federal emergency management officials about the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene.
“Thanks for showing up for us,” Erik Hooks, the deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told her.
Harris plans to visit areas smacked by the storm “as soon as possible without disrupting emergency response operations,” a White House official said.
Trump traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to inspect the storm damage and voice “solidarity” with those suffering from a disaster that has killed at least 120 people and left 2 million customers without power across several Southern states.
Trump said at a news conference at a furniture store in Georgia that politics should play no part in recovery efforts — while he also leveled false criticism of his foes about their handling of the storm response.
Trump implied that Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor, who was not at the event, had “not been able to get” President Joe Biden on the phone to discuss the storm’s toll, even though Kemp told reporters the two had spoken Sunday evening.
“He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’” Kemp told the media about his discussion with Biden. “And I told him, ‘You know, we got what we need. We will work through the federal process.’”
Harris also spoke to Kemp and officials in other communities battered by the storm she flew home Monday on Air Force Two, a White House official said. Trump later ridiculed a photo she posted on social media along with a description of her discussion with officials.
Not lost on either campaign is the hurricane’s path. Communities in two battleground states that could decide the election, North Carolina and Georgia, are looking for federal aid and leadership as they struggle to rebuild.
In North Carolina, recent polls from CNN and Marist College showed Harris and Trump tied at 49%. And in Georgia, which Biden won in 2020, a recent Fox News survey had Harris up 51-48%, while CBS News found Trump leading 51-49%
The pool of undecided voters is small, but the executive temperament that Harris and Trump display in the coming weeks could prove meaningful in an election that remains a toss-up, analysts said.
North Carolina may be a case in point. The western part of the state is a rural, heavily Republican region surrounding two blue dots centered on Asheville and Boone, cities that were among those hit hardest. Biden easily carried Buncombe County, which includes Asheville, 60% to 39%., in 2020.
“There’s a pretty straightforward playbook for campaigns to be helpful or unhelpful,” said Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist and former Biden administration official. “The Harris team, for example, has already been using their North Carolina email lists and social accounts to provide information and resources to their followers. You’ll probably see field offices temporarily used as food bank and donation drop-off sites. These are productive ways for the campaigns to engage in relief efforts.”
The cascading developments in the U.S. and overseas offer both candidates a chance to gain or lose ground in a race in which precious little seems to alter the trajectory.
An argument that Harris and Democrats before her make is that they’re more competent than Trump and better suited to run the federal government.
“The events this week show just how critical it is to have a president who is serious about challenges facing the country and world,” a Harris campaign official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak freely about campaign dynamics. “Donald Trump is unserious. He is ranting about his hair and Johnny Carson and fanning the flames of division. The vice president is helping lead the federal response to the disaster, including thousands of federal personnel deployed to help.”
Yet the fallout from the storm — along with the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and a potential port strike that could disrupt supply chains — threaten the core rationale of Harris’s campaign.
She’s part of a Biden administration that made the case to voters that it would avert problems or keep them from spreading. Presidents aren’t responsible for union-management disputes. Nor can they control the weather or necessarily dictate events on a battlefield nearly 6,000 miles away. But fairly or not, the public may hold them accountable nonetheless.
Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked in George W. Bush’s White House during Hurricane Katrina, said people tend to blame the federal government for a lackluster disaster response, even if the effort is handled mostly by state and local authorities.
“Emergencies like this definitely can throw a wrench in campaign plans,” Conant said. “Ultimately people expect the federal government to be responsive and will blame the administration if the response in insufficient.”
As for the war in the Middle East, Harris didn’t respond to reporters’ questions about the deteriorating conditions before she boarded her plane back to Washington.
On Saturday, after an Israeli operation killed Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah, Harris said “Hezbollah’s victims have a measure of justice” after the death of “a terrorist with American blood on his hands.”
She stressed that she and Biden want to prevent an escalation in tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
“We have been working on a diplomatic solution along the Israel-Lebanon border so that people can safely return home on both sides of that border,” she said. “Diplomacy remains the best path forward to protect civilians and achieve lasting stability in the region.”
Looking to capitalize on the moment, Trump has tried to paint Harris as inept in her response to the hurricane. He attacked Harris on social media over a picture she posted as she was being briefed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency while she was flying on Air Force Two.
“Another FAKE and STAGED photo from someone who has no clue what she is doing,” Trump posted Monday on Truth Social. “You have to plug the cord into the phone for it to work!”
Trump’s criticism of Harris could open him to accusations that, as president, he mishandled hurricanes on his watch. On one occasion he appeared to use a Sharpie to show on a map that Hurricane Dorian threatened Alabama even though that wasn’t the case. Then there were reports that he once asked officials whether he could use a nuclear bomb to destroy a hurricane.
One of the enduring images of Trump’s presidency was of him tossing out rolls of paper towels to a crowd of Puerto Ricans during his visit in 2017 after Hurricane Maria struck the island. Some critics considered the gesture callous given the scale of suffering.
“He viewed them as a photo op,” said Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.
