Donald Trump hosts town hall in Fayetteville, blasts Biden administration’s response in NC to Helene

In a town hall-style rally Friday in Fayetteville, former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blasted Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the 2024 presidential election, and President Joe Biden for their handling of the response to Hurricane Helene.

Trump made the comments in front of a 4,000-person crowd just hours after he was in Georgia to appear with Gov. Brian Kemp.

Trump told the crowd that FEMA is failing the western part of the state, and the current administration is to blame.

“This is Katrina,” Trump said. “They are doing the worst job on any disaster in history, and they don’t want to talk about it.”

Trump’s visit to North Carolina comes a day before Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit North Carolina. As of Friday afternoon, it has not been announced what cities and towns Harris will visit in North Carolina.

Trump then told the crowd FEMA doesn’t have the funds needed for the state to recover because, according to him, the Biden administration spent it on hotel rooms and money for unauthorized immigrants.

“We’re missing a $1 billion. They gave them to the migrants they came in,” he said. “They don’t have the money, that’s why they give you lousy treatment in North Carolina in particular.”

Speaking to reporters in Canton, North Carolina, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell called the claim “just plain false.”

“We have the resources for individuals,” she said. “We want them to apply for assistance. This level of misinformation creates a scenario where they won’t come to us. They won’t even register, and I need people to register so they can get what they’re eligible for through our programs.”

FEMA also released several facts related to misinformation regarding the government agency and their response to Helene.

Trump said he’ll oversee what he called the largest deportation of migrants in U.S. history if reelected. That message resonated with Fayetteville resident Stephen Collopy, who came to the rally with his family.

“That’s the biggest problem,” he said.

On Saturday, Trump is expected to be joined by Elon Musk at a rally in Butler, the Pennsylvania city where the Republican presidential nominee survived an assassination attempt earlier this year.

Harris and Trump are tied among likely voters in North Carolina, according to a recent CNN poll conducted by SSRS. The poll showed Harris and Trump stand at 48% each.