GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) 鈥� used an appearance Sunday before a largely Black church audience in battleground to call out for about the . visited Florida for the second time this month to .
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, did not speak Trump's name, but he is most prominent among those promoting false claims about the Biden administration's response to Hurricanes Milton and . Florida was in the path of both storms, with Helene also hitting North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, while Milton headed for the open Atlantic.
The vice president spoke at the Koinonia Christian Center about the 鈥渉eroes鈥� all around who are helping residents without regard to political affiliation.
鈥淵et, church, there are some who are not acting in the spirit of community, and I am speaking of these who have been literally not telling the truth, lying about people who are working hard to help the folks in need, spreading disinformation when the truth and facts are required,鈥� Harris said.
鈥淭he problem with this, beyond the obvious, is it's making it harder, then, to get people life-saving information if they're led to believe they cannot trust,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd that's the pain of it all, which is the idea that those who are in need have somehow been convinced that the forces are working against them in a way that they would not seek aid.鈥�
Harris said they are trying 鈥渢o gain some advantage for themselves, to play politics with other people's heart break, and it is unconscionable,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow is not a time to incite fear. It is not right to make people feel alone.鈥�
鈥淭hat is not what leaders, as we know, do in crisis,鈥� she said.
Trump made a series of false claims after Helene struck in late September, including saying that Washington was from Republicans in need across the Southeast. The former president falsely claimed the Federal Emergency Management Agency had run out of money to help them because it was spent on programs to help immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
He pressed that argument on Fox News' 鈥淪unday Morning Futures,鈥� saying the White House response was 鈥渁bsolutely terrible鈥� and repeating the claim about FEMA's dollars. 鈥淚t came out from there and everybody knew it,鈥� Trump said in an interview that was taped Thursday and broadcast Sunday.
Before Harris spoke in church, Biden was surveying hurricane damage on a helicopter flight between Tampa and St. Pete Beach on the Gulf Coast. From the air, he saw the torn-up roof of , home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. On the ground, the president saw waterlogged household furnishings piled up outside flooded homes. Some houses had collapsed.
The president said he was thankful that Milton was not as bad as officials had anticipated, but that it still was a 鈥渃ataclysmic鈥� event for many people, including those who lost irreplaceable personal items. He also praised the first responders, some of whom had come from Canada.
"It's in moments like this we come together to take care of each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans," Biden said after he was briefed by federal, state and local officials, and met some residents and responders. 鈥淲e are one United States, one United States.鈥�
Harris opened her second day in North Carolina by speaking at the Christian center in Greenville, part of her campaign's 鈥淪ouls to the Polls鈥� effort to help turn out Black churchgoers before the Nov. 5 election.
The vice president later spoke to roughly 7,000 supporters at a Sunday afternoon rally at East Carolina University's arena, suggesting that Trump's team has stopped him from releasing medical records or debating her again because they might be 鈥渁fraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable.鈥�
The North Carolina appearances mark the start of a week that will find Harris working to shore up support among Black voters, a key constituency for the Democratic Party. She is counting on Black turnout in competitive states such as North Carolina to help her defeat Trump, who has focused on energizing men of all races and has tried to make inroads with Black men in particular.
On Tuesday, she will appear in Detroit for a live conversation with Charlamagne tha God, a prominent Black media personality.
Black registered voters have overwhelmingly favorable views of Harris and negative views of Trump despite his to appeal to nonwhite voters, according to a recent poll from But the also shows that many Black voters aren鈥檛 sure whether Harris would improve the country overall or better their own lives.
In Florida, which Biden had visited the Big Bend region on Oct. 3 after Helene struck, the president announced $612 million for six Department of Energy projects in hurricane-affected areas to bolster the region鈥檚 electric grid. The money includes $47 million for Gainesville Regional Utilities and $47 million for Switched Source to partner with Florida Power and Light.
With a little more than three weeks before the election, the to the closely contested presidential race.
Trump has said the Biden administration鈥檚 storm response was lacking, particularly in western North Carolina after Helene. Biden and Harris have hammered Trump for about .
Biden said Trump was 鈥渘ot singularly" to blame for the spread of misinformation but that he has the "biggest mouth.鈥�
鈥淭hey blame me for everything. It's OK,鈥� Trump told Fox.
Biden has pressed for Congress to act quickly to make sure the Small Business Administration and FEMA have the money they need to get through hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30 in the Atlantic. He said Friday that Milton alone had caused an estimated $50 billion in damages.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees FEMA, said the hurricane season is far from over and there are other natural disasters for which the agency must ready.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 coming tomorrow, whether it鈥檚 another hurricane, a tornado, a fire, an earthquake. We have to be ready. And it is not good government to be dependent on a day-to-day existence as opposed to appropriate planning,鈥� Mayorkas said on CBS鈥� 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥�
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said there was plenty of time and that lawmakers would address the funding issue when Congress comes back into session after the Nov. 5 election.
鈥淲e鈥檒l provide the additional resources,鈥� Johnson told CBS.
Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday evening. At least 10 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of residents remain without power. Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for widespread evacuations. .
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Madhani reported from St. Pete Beach, Florida, and Superville from Washington.
Josh Boak, Aamer Madhani And Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
