2024 election updates: Helene politics is the focus 36 days until Election Day

(WASHINGTON) — With just 36 days until Election Day, the campaign trail is taking a sharp turn toward how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are responding to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and its aftermath.

It’s also one day before the vice presidential debate on Tuesday.

Here’s how the news is developing.

Trump claims Musk will help Helene victims

Standing in front of a destroyed furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, former President Donald Trump claimed he’s requested help from Elon Musk and will be traveling to North Carolina when conditions clear.

“They don’t have communication. … I just spoke to Elon,” he said. “We want to get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever. And Elon will always come through.”

“As you know, our country is in the final weeks of a hard-fought national election. But in a time like this when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters,” Trump said before later suggesting the Biden-Harris administration wasn’t doing enough and falsely claiming that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp couldn’t get ahold of the president.

–ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Fact check: Biden and Georgia’s governor have spoken

Trump incorrectly claimed that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and President Joe Biden haven’t been in touch since Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the Southeast, making clear that his already controversial visit to the hard-hit state is a political one.

“I spoke with, for a couple hours, leaders yesterday affected by the hurricane,” Biden said Monday morning. “Governor Kemp of Georgia, Governor Cooper of North Carolina, county officials in the Big Bend region of Florida and other leaders in South Carolina and Tennessee.”

Kemp on Monday acknowledged the call with Biden and said he and Harris had been trying to speak.

–ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett and Molly Nagle

Trump claims Biden and Harris not responding to Georgia disaster

Trump claimed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is having a hard time getting President Joe Biden on the phone and that the federal government is being unresponsive after Hurricane Helene wrecked the parts of the state.

“The Vice President, she’s out some place campaigning and looking for money,” Trump said after landing in Valdosta, Georgia. “They have to be focused over here.”

Biden approved Kemp’s request for an emergency declaration on Thursday and Harris canceled campaign events Monday to return to Washington for a briefing on the storm and the federal response.

NC leaders ask politicians to stay away

Ahead of his visit to Valdosta, Georgia, Trump posted to Truth Social that he will pay his respects to the community, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene, and bring aid.

Trump added that he was going to stop by damaged communities in North Carolina too, but determined it would be too burdensome on local officials.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Rep. Chuck Edwards, who represents Asheville, North Carolina, told ABC Contributing Political Correspondent Rachael Bade on Sunday night that photo-ops were not welcome. Cooper even asked President Joe Biden and Harris to please not visit the state right now.

–ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

New York Times endorses Harris

The New York Times endorsed Harris for president in an editorial published Monday morning, calling her “the only patriotic choice for president” and later “the only choice.”

“As a dedicated public servant who has demonstrated care, competence and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution, Ms. Harris stands alone in this race,” the Times’ editorial board wrote. “She may not be the perfect candidate for every voter, especially those who are frustrated and angry about our government’s failures to fix what’s broken — from our immigration system to public schools to housing costs to gun violence. Yet we urge Americans to contrast Ms. Harris’s record with her opponent’s.”

–ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim

Trump heads to Georgia devastation, Harris cancels campaign events and heads to DC for FEMA briefing

Trump is scheduled to visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday amid storm wreckage in the area.

Trump, who has been criticizing Harris for not visiting communities damaged by Hurricane Helene, will receive a briefing on the damage from the hurricane, help distribute relief supplies and deliver campaign remarks at a local furniture store in Valdosta, the campaign announced on Sunday.

Harris, meanwhile, is canceling her campaign events and heading back from Las Vegas to get a briefing at FEMA headquarters in Washington on what her campaign says are the “ongoing impacts of Hurricane Helene and the federal actions being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts across several states.”
 

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