ASHEVILLE — One month after Hurricane Helene ravaged North Carolina and much of the Southeast, residents are tired of their tragedy being used to score political points ahead of the 2024 election.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have slowed aid to the region after Hurricane Helene made landfall in September.
The former president visited North Carolina on Monday, where he continued to spread misinformation about the government response that has prevented some in Asheville and the surrounding counties from coming forward to receive federal aid.
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Asheville has historically been a Democratic stronghold surrounded by Republican counties in Western North Carolina, but Western North Carolina residents of all political persuasions told the Washington Examiner this week that Trump’s rhetoric is grating on nerves, signaling it could potentially cost him votes in November.
Trump leads Harris by less than a point in North Carolina, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, and he’s set his eyes on holding the Sun Belt as his cleanest path to the White House.
Mike Stewart owns a shed business in Swannanoa, a town of 5,000 people east of Asheville and one of the areas hardest hit by Helene.
Stewart suggested to the Washington Examiner that he was frustrated with Trump’s comments, especially at a time when people in his community are “just looking for housing.”
“I’m not going to say anything negative about the federal government, because the federal government does what the federal government does,” said Stewart, who said he never was contacted by anyone at the Federal Emergency Management Agency for his property damage. “It’s like a great big boat. It takes a long time to turn.”
Alexei Souvorin, a registered independent in Asheville, claimed that “it’s very weird” to see people outside of the state use the tragedy to score political points.
“A lot of people aren’t, like, in the loop and don’t know what’s going on,” he claimed before criticizing Trump’s Monday appearance.
“Most of what he was doing was claiming that the relief organizations that really, really helped us need to be defunded and did nothing,” Souvorin continued. “They tried their hardest here with what they had, and he seemed to really disagree with that.”
Chris Moyer moved to Asheville just one month before Helene’s impact and explained that the “things that [Trump’s] done or said” made her regret voting for him in the past.
“I think it showed a lot of the reason we don’t want people to be here right now,” Stewart said of Trump’s visit. “Shut down roads just for the sake of a picture, and to say that he had done it, I don’t know. I would love to say that you could change my mind about any of the things that he’s ever done or said, but that’s not happening.”
Melissa Duong, who spoke to the Washington Examiner before voting early in Weaverville, just north of Asheville, was emphatic that a “natural event like this” shouldn’t be political.
“Mother Nature is not a Republican, or they’re not a Democrat. And so I think this is the time where we all need to come together,” she stated. “Let’s focus on the individuals and the families who were hurt the most out of this, and how can we help them.”
Mary Weber, a Harris campaign volunteer working near the polling center on the University of North Carolina Asheville campus, told the Washington Examiner that she “was not very happy” Trump chose to visit “just because it’s already so chaotic and so many roads are closed and people without power still and water and communications.”
“I’ve had a good experience with FEMA, very prompt response, good help,” she continued. “I don’t really understand that logic, and I am glad that people like [GOP Rep.] Chuck Edwards are speaking out strongly against that and discounting all the things that are being said [by Trump].”
Edwards, a Republican, created a page on his official site titled “Debunking Helene Response Myths” to dispel what he called conspiracy theories and hoaxes about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene.
Still, Bo Hess, a clinical social worker and Democratic candidate for Asheville City Council, did give Trump credit for visiting Asheville but was critical of the misinformation the former president continues to push.
“We need our leaders to be able to show up wherever there are issues. We want our leaders to be there. We want them to care. We also need our leaders to be strong enough to be able to handle facts and truth, and quite frankly, there’s only one candidate in this race that is actually strong enough and tough enough to handle facts and truth, and unfortunately, it’s not the former president,” Hess told the Washington Examiner. “So being on the ground and seeing that misinformation was heartbreaking.”
Trump held four campaign events in North Carolina this past week, including rallies in Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, and his trip to Asheville. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Trump’s running mate, also held a campaign event in Charlotte Friday.
Harris, on the other hand, has spent significantly more time campaigning in the blue wall than the South following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
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The vice president did survey storm damage around Asheville alongside Biden in early October and rallied in Charlotte shortly after.
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Harris’s running mate, held a rally in Wilmington on Thursday, and former President Barack Obama held a solo rally supporting Harris in Charlotte on Friday.
