RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris helped pack diapers into boxes of personal care products destined for hurricane victims in North Carolina on Saturday, agreeing with an aide who said, “It takes a village.”
“You’re exactly right,” Harris replied to Greg Hatem, owner of The Pit Authentic Barbecue restaurant, as she stuffed two packs of diapers into each box placed in front of her on the assembly line.
Harris met with black leaders at the barbecue restaurant in Raleigh before joining volunteers who were there to pack bandages, baby formula, baby wipes, painkillers and other items for victims of Hurricane Helene, which struck west of last month North Carolina swept.
The vice president stayed in the state, which narrowly trailed her rival, Republican Donald Trump, in 2020. Democrats are pushing strenuous to bring North Carolina into their fold in next month’s presidential election. On Sunday, Harris visited the church in Greenville and held a rally as part of her Souls to the Polls campaign.
The weekend trip was their second to the battleground state after it was hit by Hurricane Helene. The Democratic presidential candidate traveled to North Carolina last Saturday to learn about the aftermath of Helene and promised government support for the victims.
Before her plane left Washington, Harris told reporters accompanying her that she was looking forward to speaking with residents, “primarily to see how they are doing after the hurricane.”
Democrats expect North Carolina to reach a tipping point this year with its base of black and college-educated voters, as well as women concerned about losing abortion protections. But the aftermath of Hurricane Helene has become a political flashpoint as former President Trump and his allies attack the Biden administration’s response to the natural disaster.
At The Pit, Harris met with black elected officials, faith and community leaders. Her campaign did not release a list of people she met with.
After Sunday’s service, Harris, a Baptist, was scheduled to speak at a rally about her economic plans to drum up support for early voting, which begins Thursday in North Carolina.
When Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26, about 230 people died and knocked out roads, power and cell phone networks. Just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton hit Florida this week, causing an estimated $50 billion in damage and causing multiple deaths.
Harris also visited Georgia after Helene also struck there, and she also took part virtually in briefings on the federal government’s response and revised her campaign plan. She continued to travel for the presidential election, spending time in Nevada and Arizona this week.
One of her key messages was that there should be no price gouging by companies seeking to take advantage of the shortages caused by the hurricanes – an issue she has made central to her campaign as a way to combat inflation.
“Any company or individual that takes advantage of this crisis to drive up prices through illegal fraud or price gouging, whether at the gas pump, at the airport or at the hotel counter, we will keep an eye on it and there will be consequences.” Harris said at Friday’s briefing.
But Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid went to immigrants rather than hurricane victims, while suggesting that people are not receiving the full financial assistance to which they are legally entitled.
At a recent rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, Trump said the response was worse than Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed nearly 1,400 people and caused $200 billion in damage.
“North Carolina has been hit very hard and this administration has not done a real job at all. “Terrible, terrible,” Trump said at the rally, adding that Harris was “on a fundraising comedy tour while people are stranded and drowning all over some of our greatest states.”
President Joe Biden has called Trump’s falsehoods about the administration’s response “un-American” and told his predecessor to “get a life, man.”
