Harris says Trump puts politics before people by giving false information about Hurricane Helene response: ‘He really lacks empathy at a very basic level’

() – United States Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that she believes former President Donald Trump lacks empathy for others as he continues to spread misinformation about the federal response after Hurricane Helene.

“It is profound, and it is the height of irresponsibility and, frankly, insensitivity. (…) Lives are literally at stake right now,” Harris said during an interview on ABC’s “The View.” “We’re talking about real human beings and their lives, and they’re losing everything, everything.”

He added: “The idea of ​​someone playing political games for their own benefit, but this is so consistent with Donald Trump.”

“He puts himself before the needs of others. “I fear that he really lacks empathy at a very basic level to care about other people’s suffering and then understand that the role of a leader is not to tear people down, but to lift them up, especially in a time of crisis,” he added.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, and with Hurricane Milton moving toward Florida, Trump has repeatedly and without evidence claimed that the White House is diverting disaster aid to unrelated immigrant programs. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages grants for housing and immigrant relief, that is a separate account and is not related to disaster relief funds.

Trump has also repeatedly criticized the Joe Biden administration’s response to Helene, including false claims that the president was not taking calls and that there is an anti-Republican bias in the way President Biden and Harris are responding to the crisis. .

Harris described his trips to Georgia and North Carolina to assess the impact of the hurricane, emphasizing the “pain” and “shock” people are still in. At least 235 people have died due to Helene, and Milton is expected to hit Florida in the coming days after rapidly intensifying into a severe hurricane, strengthening again to a Category 5. It is expected to remain a powerful Category 4 storm before make landfall this Wednesday night.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lamented the state of misinformation surrounding relief efforts to date.

“I’m going to separate the misinformation that is being spread from any one individual and just say this: misinformation hurts disaster survivors because they lose trust in their government and don’t seek the assistance they need and are entitled to and that we can provide,” Mayorkas said on this Tuesday.

Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, strongly condemned a spate of misinformation surrounding hurricanes Helene and Milton, calling those who spread such inaccurate information “un-American.”

Biden did not directly mention Trump, who has been among those actively spreading disinformation about the federal response to the storms, referring generally to “others on the internet.” The Biden administration is increasingly alarmed by the state of misinformation surrounding relief efforts, with multiple officials speaking out about politicization and distrust.

The president downplayed the reputational impact on his administration while criticizing the significant impact it is having on affected Americans.

“Those who do it do it to try to harm the administration. We can take care of ourselves. But it tricks people and puts them in circumstances where they panic. They’re really, really, really worried. “They think we’re not taking care of them,” Biden told reporters in the Roosevelt Room.

He continued: “It’s un-American. It really is. People are scared to death. People know that their lives are at stake, everything they have worked for, everything they own, everything they value.”

Biden noted that he has been in contact with each of the governors affected by the two storms and that they are “satisfied with everything they are receiving.”

Asked about the risk of misinformation shared by political figures, Biden responded: “If the past is prologue, it is real.”

Speaking almost simultaneously Tuesday from the White House and the set of “The View,” Biden and Harris painted very different portraits of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose state is bracing for the impact of Hurricane Milton.

In the Roosevelt Room, speaking after a hurricane briefing with officials, Biden said DeSantis was “cooperative” and “supportive” of the federal response. Additionally, he said he provided DeSantis with his personal phone number in case he needed anything.

Meanwhile, Harris suggested during her interview that DeSantis was using the storm for political purposes.

“First of all, I have called and spoken, over the course of this crisis, this most recent crisis, with Democratic and Republican governors. I called, I took the call, I answered the call, I had a conversation. So obviously, this is not an issue that has to do with partisanship or politics for certain leaders, but maybe it is for others,” he said, when asked directly about DeSantis.

The difference in approach toward DeSantis was surprising, given that Harris is Biden’s vice president and they have made efforts to avoid major differences as she runs for president.

However, in her interview, Harris maintained a line of criticism toward DeSantis that began a day earlier during statements to reporters, when she said he was playing “political games” with the storm and called him “irresponsible.”

“We have to come to an agreement that at some point we all need to work together to combine resources, especially federal, state and local resources, around these types of disasters,” he said on “The View.” “I think it’s a shame that hasn’t happened, but it has happened locally and with other state elected officials.”

His suggestion that federal-state cooperation “has not happened” in Florida is at odds with how Biden was describing the situation almost simultaneously from the White House.

“The governor of Florida has been cooperative, saying he has everything he needs. I spoke to him yesterday. And I said, ‘No, you’re doing a great job, everything is being done well, we appreciate that,'” Biden said. “And I literally gave him my personal phone number to call. “I don’t know, there was a rocky start in some places, but every governor from Florida to North Carolina has been completely cooperative and supportive and has recognized what this team is doing.”