NationalWatch

One day after Hurricane Milton tore a path of destruction across Florida, the death toll is rising and millions remain without power or running water.

As recovery efforts in Florida reach a fever pitch, there’s no letup in the war of words between President Biden and former President Trump over the federal government’s response to Milton and Hurricane Helene, which smashed into the southeast two weeks ago.

With Trump continuing to charge that Biden and Vice President Harris have been slow and ineffective in steering the government’s storm efforts, the president once again fired back.

“Vice President Harris and I have been in constant contact with the state and local officials. We’re offering everything they need,” Biden emphasized on Thursday.

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President Biden speaks and gives an update on the impact and the ongoing response to Hurricane Milton, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

With less than four weeks to go until Election Day, Harris and Trump are locked in a narrow margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election, the politics of federal disaster relief are again front and center on the campaign trail.

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For nearly two weeks, Trump has been turning up the volume.

“THE WORST RESPONSE TO A STORM OR HURRICANE DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY,” Trump claimed in a social media post on Tuesday.

“The worst hurricane response since Katrina,” the former president charged on Wednesday as he pointed to the much-maligned initial federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which was heavily criticized for being slow and ineffective.

On Thursday at a campaign event in Michigan, Trump kept up the attacks. He praised southern Republican governors for doing a “fantastic job” reacting to the storms and argued that “the federal government, on the other hand, has not done what you’re supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina. They’ve let those people suffer unjustly, unjustly.”

The former president has also repeatedly made false claims that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) diverted money intended for disaster relief and spent it on undocumented migrants in the U.S. as he turned up the volume on his inflammatory rhetoric over the combustible issue of illegal immigration.

“You know where they gave the money to: illegal immigrants coming,” Trump said at Wednesday’s rally as the crowd of MAGA supporters loudly booed.

DESANTIS AND HARRIS TRADE FIRE OVER HURRICANE CALL

Hours later, Biden pushed back, accusing the Republican presidential nominee of leading an “onslaught of lies.”

Biden charged that the rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans was “beyond ridiculous” and that “it’s got to stop.”

President Biden talks with Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, S.C., Oct. 2, 2024, to survey damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

On Thursday, as he updated federal hurricane response efforts, Biden told reporters that Trump needed to “get a life, man, help these people.”

And he argued that “the public will hold him [Trump] accountable” for making false claims regarding the capabilities of FEMA to assist storm victims.

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt, responding to the criticism, said in a statement to Fox News on Thursday that Trump has been “working hard every day to save this country from the mess Biden and Kamala got us into.”

And Trump’s son, Eric, in a social media post, highlighted that the family has opened up one of its Florida hotels to house over 200 linemen who are helping in the storm’s aftermath.

Trump last week also launched a GoFundMe campaign for victims of Hurricane Helene in Georgia, which has raised more than $7 million so far.

But his criticism of the federal response has also been chided by Harris.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Harris arrives at LaGuardia Airport, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

“This is not a time for us to just point fingers at each other as Americans,” the vice president said in a Wednesday interview on the Weather Channel. “Anybody who considers themselves to be a leader should really be in the business right now of giving people a sense of confidence that we’re all working together and that we have the resources and the ability to work together on their behalf.”

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Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who spoke with Biden on Thursday morning after the storm hit, seemed to compliment the administration’s storm efforts.

“I spoke with the president this morning,” DeSantis said during one of his round-the-clock briefings. “He said he wants to be helpful. And so if we have a request, he said, send them his way, and he wants to help us get the job done. So I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state and local governments and work together to put the people first.”

Fox News’ Kirill Clark and Matteo Cina contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A new poll released this week shows former President Trump with a strong lead over Vice President Kamala Harris on the subject of immigration – even after Harris has sought to present herself as the best candidate to secure the southern border.

The Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found Harris leading Trump in Pennsylvania, while Trump is ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin. The three Rust Belt states are being closely watched as they could determine which candidate is the next president.

But on the question of who is best to handle immigration, Trump has the edge in all three states. He carries a four-point lead in Pennsylvania (50-46), a nine-point lead in Michigan (53-44) and an eight-point lead in Wisconsin (52-44).

VANCE, WALZ SPAR ON IMMIGRATION DURING VP DEBATE: BEEN TO THE BORDER ‘MORE THAN OUR BORDER CZAR’ 

Trump was also preferred in all states on the economy and handling the conflict in the Middle East, while Harris was preferred on abortion and preserving democracy.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, along with Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada, had razor-thin margins that decided President Biden’s 2020 White House victory over Trump. And the seven states are likely to determine if Trump or Harris wins the 2024 presidential election.

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are also the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall.”

The party reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election to win the White House.

A recent Marquette Law School poll found that 49% favor Trump while just 37% favor Harris on immigration, with 8% saying they’d be about the same, and 6% saying neither are good on the issue.

Harris was tasked with tackling root causes of migration to the southern border in early 2021 as border numbers began to surge. She was eventually dubbed the “border czar” by media outlets and critics – although the White House rejected that title.

HARRIS SHIFTS KEY POSITIONS ON BORDER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS CAMPAIGN PROMISES ‘PRAGMATIC’ APPROACH

Republicans have accused her of playing a key role in the border crisis and the policies they believe fueled it, including the rolling back of Trump-era policies. Trump has promised to launch a massive deportation operation if elected, restart border wall construction and end Biden-era parole policies.

Critics have also highlighted her more left-wing policies as a senator and presidential candidate in 2019 – including her positions on immigration funding and the detention of illegal immigrants.

Harris’ campaign says her views have changed since 2019 and have been shaped by her involvement in the administration. This year, her campaign has highlighted her past as a prosecutor and noted her backing of a bipartisan Senate bill to increase funding to the border.

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Her campaign has noted a recent sharp drop in border encounters since President Biden signed a presidential proclamation in June limiting asylum entries. She has accused Trump of scuppering the border bill for political purposes and of “playing political games.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Former President Trump is proposing that federal education dollars “follow the student” in his possible second term, while pushing his “universal school choice policy,” and stressing that he backs it “all the way.” 

The former president championed school choice last week, making his strongest case yet for the movement on the federal level. 

“We want federal education dollars to follow the student, rather than propping up a bloated and radical bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” Trump said at an event in Milwaukee.  

TRUMP PUSH TO DISMANTLE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT MET WITH ENTHUSIASM IN HOUSE GOP

“If you want a better education for your child, Kamala Harris stands in your way,” Trump said. “Kamala and the Radical Left Democrat Party want to keep Black and Hispanic children trapped in family government. I think that’s really the reason.” 

The former president said he believes school choice “is the civil rights issue of our time.” 

Former President Trump (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

“A child’s fate should be determined by their love of education, by their parents, by so many factors. But it can’t be determined by a ZIP code,” Trump said. “And no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government-run school.” 

Trump’s universal school choice would allow parents to send their children to public, private or religious schools.

Trump’s stance is reflected in the 2024 Republican Party platform. According to proponents of school choice, it recognizes a role for both federal and state governments in expanding tax credit scholarship programs and Education Savings Accounts, which currently serve more than a million K-12 students across the country. 

The Trump campaign said school choice “leads to higher graduation rates, higher parental satisfaction and involvement, lower costs, increased competition among schools, and higher reading and math test scores.” 

At this point, 11 states have universal school choice, and 32 states and Washington, D.C., have at least one private school choice program – but 18 states have none. 

“Before President Trump took office, zero states had a universal school choice policy. Now, almost a dozen do, and it is in large part because of the voice and visibility that he gave to elevate the issue into the national consciousness during COVID – but even before that,” former Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Digital.

“There is an increase in the number and needs of American school children with respect to alternatives to conventional public schools,” Conway said. “There is an increase in resistance among Kamala Harris and Democrats to allow these types of alternatives – these types of options and choices – to be in the hands of parents.” 

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are expanding their opposition to school choice, and teachers’ unions rejoiced when Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, dubbing the ticket as a major win for public educators. 

Walz is a former teachers’ union member who has said he is opposed to the school choice “agenda.” 

MINNESOTA WALZ-APPOINTED BOARD REQUIRES TEACHERS TO ‘AFFIRM’ THEIR STUDENTS’ GENDER IDENTITIES

Teachers’ unions pushed hard to prolong school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many districts shuttered for more than a year. 

Former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Walz was a “5-alarm fire for parents and students.” 

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos attends an event at the White House on Aug. 12, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

As for the Democratic Party platform, Democrats support all children “no matter their ZIP code” to have access to a “quality public K-12 education and for college to be affordable for every American.” 

Democrats are looking to push federal dollars toward public schools in an effort to “expand opportunities for higher education and job training.” 

Harris’ campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but her website lays out her plan to “ensure parents can afford high-quality child care and preschool for their children.” 

Harris also plans to focus on working to “end the unreasonable burden of student loan debt and fight to make higher education more affordable, so that college can be a ticket to the middle class.” 

Harris said she would work to “scale up programs that create good career pathways for non-college graduates.” 

But Conway explained that parents are focused on having more of a role in their child’s education – now more than ever. 

“There is a continuation of the parent’s rights renaissance that started during COVID and spilled over into 2021 and into Glenn Youngkin’s election over Terry McAuliffe in 2021 and continues unabated in so many states across this country,” Conway said, noting that since the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered schools at the request of the teachers’ unions, there “are a higher number of people running for school board, and you have more parents engaged in choices of schools and character of curricula.” 

“There is a need for a charismatic and compelling leader to take this on,” Conway said, referring to Trump. 

Kellyanne Conway, former counselor to the president and White House adviser (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

By December 2020, Trump signed an executive order to expand education opportunities for American children and families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That order offered flexibility to provide children with emergency K-12 scholarships to access in-person learning opportunities – an effort to provide an in-person learning option after prolonged school closures. 

The Trump administration also invested nearly $1.5 billion in the development of public charter schools and, under his tax reform bill, made it possible for parents to withdraw up to $10,000 tax-free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover public, private, or religious K-12 schooling costs. 

“President Trump says this is the civil rights issue of our time, and it is true, but also, when you look at the sheer numbers of charter schools and school choice scholarship recipients and even the alternatives, like homeschooled students – and that is still a growing piece – but parents want to take things into their own hands. They know their children best,” Conway said. “If Trump is re-elected, this is going to be a biggie.” 

As for the word “choice,” Conway said the left “wants to own that word” but only when it relates to abortion.

“The Democrat Party really only wants to talk to women from the waist down, whereas, these parents of school-aged children want people to talk to them from the waist up – their eyes, ears, brain and hearts – and that includes them giving choices,” she said. “We should not be ceding the word ‘choice’ and the idea that women have a right to choose to the left based on abortion. It should be, women have a right to choose where their children go to school and what is taught there.”

But Democrats believe school choice is anti-public schools – something Conway pushed back on – and argue that it would take funding away from teachers and schools themselves. 

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“It is just about competition,” she said. “You can customize your coffee 14,000 different ways at Starbucks. You can get Amazon to deliver anything to your home this afternoon. And yet, you are stuck with one choice for school.” 

She added: “It is like shopping in a Soviet Safeway for your child’s education, and it makes no sense, and it does not match the rest of the way we live our lives.” 

The Harris-Walz campaign did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment. 

The West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 has been brought under fresh scrutiny this week – as outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted the war in Ukraine may not have happened if the U.S. and NATO had a stronger response to that incursion. 

“If we had delivered a fraction of the weapons we have delivered after 2022, we may have actually prevented the war,” he said in an interview with Politico.

Stoltenberg, a Norwegian politician, led NATO from 2014 until last week. 

President Biden reportedly expressed a similar sentiment. 

“They f—ed up in 2014,” Biden said, according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, “War,” obtained by Fox News Digital. 

“They f—ed up in 2014,” Biden said, according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, “War,” obtained by Fox News Digital. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“That’s why we are here,” the 81-year-old said. “We f—ked it up. Barack never took [Russian President Vladimir] Putin seriously.”

NORTH KOREA TROOPS NOW FIGHTING FOR RUSSIA IN UKRAINE, SEOUL SAYS 

“We did nothing. We gave Putin a license to continue!” the president went on. “Well, I’m revoking his f—ing license!”

In 2014, the Kremlin annexed the Crimean Peninsula after the so-called Revolution of Dignity, when Ukrainians ousted Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych. It was a quick and bloodless takeover. Russia flooded the regions with migrants and fended off Ukrainian efforts to take it back. 

The Obama administration provided Ukraine with defensive weapons, sanctioned the Kremlin and kicked Russia out of the G-8, but some, even reportedly including Obama’s then-vice president, Biden, believe he should have done more. 

It came as Russia had also invaded Ukraine’s Donbas region and shot down a Malaysia Airlines flight with nearly 300 people on board. 

He stopped short of providing Ukraine with lethal weaponry. As president, Donald Trump reversed Obama’s policy, approving a plan to sell Ukraine Javelin missiles for $47 million.

“If we had delivered a fraction of the weapons [in 2014] we have delivered after 2022, we may have actually prevented the war,” outgoing NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Politico. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

In a 2014 interview with The Atlantic, Obama said he saw no benefit in the U.S. getting involved in the unfolding events in Europe related to Russia and Ukraine.

“The fact is that Ukraine, which is a non-NATO country, is going to be vulnerable to military domination by Russia no matter what we do,” Obama said. “This is an example of where we have to be very clear about what our core interests are and what we are willing to go to war for.”

In 2012, Obama famously downplayed the threat of Russia during a debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Romney had asserted that Russia was the U.S.’s greatest geopolitical foe. 

RUSSIA JAILS MERCENARY STEPHEN HUBBARD FOR FIGHTING AS A MERCENARY IN UKRAINE 

“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,” Obama chided at the time.

He also tasked his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, with pursuing a “reset” in U.S.-Russia relations, scrapping plans by President George W. Bush to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe that Russia saw as a direct military threat. Putin called that decision “correct and brave.”

Obama defended his 2014 policy in a 2023 interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. 

“We did nothing,” President Biden said. “We gave Putin a license to continue… Well, I’m revoking his f—ing license!” (Gavriil Grigorov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Ukraine of that time was not the Ukraine that we’re talking about today,” Obama said. “There’s a reason there was not an armed invasion of Crimea, because Crimea was full of a lot of Russian speakers, and there was some sympathy to the views that Russia was representing.”

The U.S. has offered some $175 billion in security assistance and financial aid since the outbreak of war in 2022. 

Earlier this week, Ukraine struck a large oil terminal off the coast of Russian-occupied Crimea in the latest wave of attacks on Russian-controlled energy facilities. 

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan faced off in a debate on Thursday night ahead of the Senate election in Maryland. 

In a particularly notable response, Alsobrooks aligned with some of the more progressive lawmakers in the Democrat Party, telling the moderator that she would support packing the Supreme Court. 

“I agree with either increasing the number of justices or term limits, yes,” she said. 

‘OUT OF MONEY’: WHISTLEBLOWERS ALLEGE LACK OF SECRET SERVICE FUNDS, DELAYED PAYMENTS, TOP SENATOR REVEALS

Alsobrooks and Hogan debated on Thursday ahead of the Maryland Senate election. (Reuters)

Hogan ridiculed this in his answer, criticizing both parties for “trying to change the rules so they can pack the court.”

“What I did was find the most qualified judges, regardless of what party they were,” he said. 

Striking a tone similar to that of outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., Hogan added, “if you can’t find one person to cross over and vote for a Democratic judge or a Republican judge, I’m not going to support them.”

Manchin had developed a reputation for bucking his party during his time as a Democrat. 

FOR WISCONSIN DEMS, A 2024 WIN IN THE BATTLEGROUND STATE IS YEARS IN THE MAKING

Larry Hogan, former governor and US Republican Senate candidate for Maryland, speaks to members of the media at the AstraZeneca facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, US, on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.  (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats are favored to win the Maryland Senate seat, but with Hogan’s popularity in the state and his distancing from GOP party leaders, the margins appear too close for comfort. 

Alsobrooks also backed scrapping the legislative filibuster to accomplish Democrat priorities such as mandating abortion access or loosening voting requirements. 

The county executive took several opportunities on Thursday to suggest Hogan’s election would give Republicans the Senate majority, regardless of whether he personally disagrees with them or would vote differently. However, top political handicappers favor Republicans to take the Senate majority, with expected wins in West Virginia and Montana, regardless of what happens in the Maryland race. 

She further questioned why Hogan would run as a Republican and not as an independent if he disagreed on so many key issues. 

SEE IT: WISCONSIN DAIRY FARMER SAYS ‘NO QUESTION’ TRUMP ADMIN WAS ‘MUCH BETTER’ THAN BIDEN-HARRIS

Angela Alsobrooks, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Maryland, greets voters on the state’s primary election day at Lewisdale Elementary School in Chillum, Md., on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

But Hogan pushed back, explaining that he thinks Washington, D.C., needs lawmakers who will challenge their own party. “I’ve stood up to my party. I’ll stand up to either party,” he said. “I think we need mavericks in Washington that aren’t going to just do exactly what the party bosses tell them to do.”

“I’m not a MAGA, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell person,” Hogan stressed. 

While the former governor emphasized that he would support the right to abortion and policies like the negotiated border bill that Republicans opposed, Alsobrooks claimed that such bills likely wouldn’t get votes in a Republican-controlled Senate. 

WISCONSIN SENATE RACE SHIFTS TO ‘TOSS UP’ BY HANDICAPPER AS TAMMY BALDWIN FIGHTS FOR RE-ELECTION

The Maryland Senate race is much closer than past cycles.  (Aaron Schwartz/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

The majority leader of the Senate notably controls the agenda in the upper chamber.

In a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll late last month, Alsobrooks led Hogan 51% to 40% in the traditionally deep blue state. 

The survey was conducted between Sept. 19 and Sept. 23 and had a sample size of 1,012 registered voters. The margin of error is +/-3.5 percentage points.

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The Fox News Power Rankings rated the Maryland Senate race “Leans Democrat” during the same time period. 

Top political handicapper the Cook Political Report considers Maryland’s open seat to be “Likely Democrat.” 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

PITTSBURGH, PA – On the campaign trail for the first time for Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama repeatedly took aim at former President Trump on Thursday at a large rally in arguably the most important battleground state in the 2024 election.

Pointing to the margin-of-error race between Harris and Trump with less than four weeks to go until Election Day and early voting already underway across much of the country, Obama acknowledged that “this election’s going to be tight, because there are a lot of Americans who are still struggling out there.”

“What I cannot understand is how anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that’s good for you Pennsylvania,” the former president emphasized, to cheers from the crowd.

Obama, referring to polls that indicate many Americans think the economy was better during Trump’s four years in the White House than under the current administration, claimed that “the reason some people think” times were better was “because it was my economy. We had 75 straight months of job growth that I handed over to him. It wasn’t something that he did.”

TRUMP AND BIDEN TRADE FIRE AS POLITICAL STORM OVER HURRICANE RAGES 

Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event in support of Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 10, 2024. REUTERS/Quinn Glabicki (REUTERS/Quinn Glabicki)

“Just in case everybody has a hazy memory… he didn’t do nothing except those big tax cuts,” which Obama argued only benefited wealthy Americans and big businesses.

Obama, who remains extremely popular with Democrats eight years after leaving the White House, argued that “there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself.”

And he reiterated that “Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”

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Obama jabbed at Trump for his constant attempts to “sell you stuff. Who does that? Selling you gold sneakers and a $100,000 watch and most recently a Trump bible…. you could not make this stuff up. If you saw it on Saturday Night Live, you’d say ‘well that’s going too far.’ Well, he’s doing that. It’s crazy.”

And Obama stressed that “we don’t need a president who will make problems worse to just to make his own political circumstances better. We need a president who actually cares about solving problems and making your life better and that’s what Kamala Harris will do.”

During the rally, Obama also discussed manhood and had a message for male voters who may be attracted to Trump’s perceived strength. 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Riverfront Sports, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Scranton, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“Real strength is about helping people who need it, and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and sons.”

And he emphasized that “is what I want to see in a President of the United States of America.”

Asked for a response, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News “If anyone cared about what Obama says, Hillary Clinton would’ve been president.”

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The choice of Pittsburgh as Obama’s first stop was no surprise. It’s the largest city and Democratic stronghold in Pennsylvania, which is the biggest prize of the seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 White House victory over Trump and will likely determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 election.

The crowd at the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse at the University of Pittsburgh listens to former President Barack Obama, on Oct. 10, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Obama isn’t the only former Democratic president to hit the campaign trail on behalf of the vice president.

The Harris campaign announced that former President Bill Clinton, a longtime Arkansas governor who later won election and re-election to the White House, will stop Sunday and Monday in parts of Georgia before heading on to North Carolina later in the week for a bus tour. 

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It’s part of Clinton’s efforts to court rural voters in the two crucial southeastern battleground states.

Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, officially endorsed Harris for president in July, five days after President Biden ended his 2024 re-election in a blockbuster announcement. 

The former president made the case for Harris during a headlining address at the Democratic National Convention in August in his hometown of Chicago, saying she “is ready for the job.”

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama appear on stage in between their addresses on the second night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Harris and Obama’s friendship goes back 20 years to when they met on the campaign trail while he was running for Senate in Illinois. And Harris was an early supporter of his 2008 presidential campaign and even knocked doors for him in Iowa ahead of the caucus, the Harris campaign noted.

While Thursday’s rally was Obama’s first appearance on behalf on the presidential campaign trail, he’s helped raise $80 million for the Democratic nominee, including headlining a top-dollar fundraising last month in Los Angeles, according to Harris aides.

Obama aides and the Harris campaign say the Pittsburg rally is the first of numerous coordinated “get out the vote” stops by the former president across the country in the closing stretch of the 2024 White House campaign.

They add that Obama will also sign additional fundraising emails, record candidate-specific ads and robocalls for down-ballot races.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania (left) listens to former President Barack Obama at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Oct. 10, 2024

Hours before Obama arrived in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey became the latest Democrat in a key Senate race that could determine whether the party holds on to its razor-thin majority in the chamber to release a new ad featuring the former president.

Casey introduced the former president at the rally, and the former president repeatedly praised the senator.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

During a pre-campaign-rally stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday, former President Barack Obama appeared to admonish Black Americans who have not been as fervent in their support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid as they were for his in 2008 and 2012.

Obama stopped at a campaign office in the Steel City before taking the stage with Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., later in the afternoon.

The prominent Democrat said he has noticed a difference in the excitement surrounding the current Democratic nominee, particularly among African-Americans.

“We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama began.

“Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers. So if you don’t mind — just for a second, I’ve got to speak to y’all and say that when you have a choice that is this clean: When on the one hand, you have somebody who grew up like you, went to college with you understands the struggles [and the] pain and joy that comes from those experiences…”

PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO DEM GAINS

According to several reports, Obama then went on to contrast that vision – presumably of Harris – to that of former President Trump.

Appearing to continue to address Black Americans, Obama said the real estate mogul-turned-politician is someone who “has consistently shown disregard, not just for the communities, but for you as a person – And you are thinking about sitting out?”

The 44th president went on to say many people apprehensive of Harris are coming up with “all kinds of reasons and excuses” to either sit home or support another candidate.

“[P]art of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly… that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”

Reacting to the comments on Fox News Channel, “Jesse Watters Primetime” host Jesse Watters said Obama’s remarks are evidence Obama believes Harris “has officially plateaued” in popularity.

“He was just caught saying this moments ago in Pittsburgh,” Watters said, before playing a clip of Obama.

GOP GAINS VOTER ADVANTAGE IN KEY COUNTY NEAR BIDEN BIRTHPLACE

Former U.S. President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024.  (REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer)

In addition, former DeKalb County, Georgia Executive Vernon Jones – a longtime Democrat who joined the GOP in 2021 – reacted on X by saying Obama was being dispatched by “White liberals” to “Blackman-splain” why fellow African-Americans should vote for Harris.

“No thanks, BO – Blacks had enough of you and Kamala Harris,” Jones said in part.

Conservative commentator Benny Arthur Johnson called the comments “sickening.”

“Obama descend[ed] into end-stage race hatred politics,” he said.

For his part, President Biden also made waves when he similarly admonished Black Americans who were waffling ahead of the 2020 election.

During a May 2020 interview from his Greenville, Del. home studio with the New York City radio program “The Breakfast Club,” Biden remarked that his wife Jill soon needed to use the same studio.

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Halperin added that internal polling reveals that Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is in “a lot of trouble.”  (ABC/The View)

“You’ve got more questions?” he responded to host Charlamagne Tha God on the matter. “Well I tell you what – If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.”

After the exchange went viral, Biden said he “shouldn’t have been such a wise guy” at the time.

In response to Obama’s Pittsburgh visit writ large, Pennsylvania Team Trump spokesman Kush Desai said things can’t be going well for Democrats if they have to “fly in Barack Obama from his $12 million Martha’s Vineyard estate…”

“While it’ll probably be a slightly less unhinged affair than what other Kamala surrogates are doing to move the needle, an Obama visit isn’t going to convince Pennsylvanians to vote for another four years of open borders, rising prices, and disaster at home and abroad.”

In a statement following publication of Obama’s remarks, Desai said Obama should “stick with proselytizing America through his … Netflix grift instead of condescending Pennsylvanians to their faces.”

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

What’s happening…

-Mayorkas refuses to answer questions on Afghan terror plot…

-Dems fret Harris momentum has stalled…

-GOP sees opportunity as Dems struggle with working class voters…

Fighting in Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bashed Vice President Kamala Harris for attempting to insert herself into the response to hurricanes Helene and Milton on Thursday.

DeSantis and Harris have clashed in recent days after the governor declined to take a call from Harris regarding the hurricane response. He said Thursday that Harris has “no role” in the process and added that she had never attempted to call him during previous storms in Florida.

“I am working with the president of the United States. I’m working with the director of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency]. We’ve been doing this now nonstop for over two weeks,” DeSantis said Thursday. 

“Although I’ve worked well with the president, she has never called Florida. She has never offered any support,” he said of Harris. “I don’t have time for those games. I don’t care about her campaign. Obviously, I’m not a supporter of hers, but she’s not, she has no role in this process. And so I’m working with the people I need to be working with.”…Read more

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds multiple storm preparation news conferences on Oct. 7, 2024 as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida (Office of Florida governor)

White House

BRIEFING BATTLE: Mayorkas refuses to answer questions on Afghan terror plot …Read more

BACK TO CRIMEA: Biden blames Obama for Ukraine war: report …Read more

‘GLITCH’: Harris’ past comes back to haunt her after crime victim from her policy blasts resurfaced speech …Read more

MORE NEEDED: FEMA has enough resources to address hurricanes but ‘will need additional funds,’ Mayorkas says …Read more

POLITICAL STORM: Mayorkas rips ‘pernicious’ misinformation over FEMA relief …Read more

‘OUT OF MONEY’: Lack of Secret Service funds, delayed payments to Homeland Security teams revealed …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘KILL AND BURY’: Defund police Dem’s past comes back to haunt him in resurfaced police report …Read more

Tales from the Trail

‘SCARED TO DEATH’: Dems fret Harris’ momentum has waned, urge campaign to be more aggressive …Read more

TESTER TESTED: GOP upset in Montana race could flip the Senate …Read more

LABOR’S LOVE LOST?: As Harris struggles with working class voters, GOP sees opportunity …Read more

UNEXPECTED OPPOSITION: Battleground Dem warns traditional voting bloc being ‘split’ in 2024 …Read more

NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: For Wisconsin Dems, a 2024 win in the battleground state is years in the making …Read more

‘BIDENVASION’: Kari Lake, Ruben Gallego spar over illegal immigration in AZ Senate debate …Read more

‘FOLLOW THE STUDENT’: Trump calls for federal education dollars to ‘follow the student,’ in push for universal school choice …Read more

DECIDING FACTOR?: Trump holds lead over Harris in battleground states on this issue …Read more

‘CRICKETS’: Walz silent on support for eliminating Electoral College after Harris camp says it does not back proposal …Read more

WHO’S MORE ACCESSIBLE?: Trump-Vance have done significantly more interviews than Harris-Walz …Read more

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Riverfront Sports, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Scranton, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Across America

‘INHUMANE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL’: Death row inmates would be able to introduce newly discovered evidence in proposed bill …Read more

SHOCKING DEATH TOLL: More Russian casualties in Ukraine war than all conflicts combined since WWII: US …Read more

BATTLE CONTINUES: DACA saga drags on …Read more

DEVOUT CATHOLIC: Ethel Kennedy, RFK’s widow, dead at 96 …Read more

‘LET HER SUFFER AND DIE’: Hospital that delayed Georgia woman’s emergency D&C blamed for death: lawyer …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

There’s no let up in the war of words between President Biden and former President Trump over the federal government’s response to back-to-back devastating hurricanes that slammed into the southeast.

After Trump continued to charge that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been slow and ineffective in steering the government’s storm efforts, the president once again fired back.

Biden told reporters on Thursday that Trump needed to “get a life man, help these people.”

And he argued that “the public will hold him [Trump] accountable” for making false claims regarding the capabilities of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to assist storm victims.

BACK-TO-BACK HURRICANES ROCK PRESIDENTIAL RACE 

President Joe Biden speaks and gives an update on the impact and the ongoing response to Hurricane Milton, in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

But the former president’s son, Eric Trump, posted on X on Wednesday that the family has opened up one of its Florida hotels to house over 200 linemen who are helping in the storm’s aftermath.

Trump has also launched a GoFundMe campaign for victims of Hurricane Helene in Georgia, which has raised more than $7 million so far.

The president spoke as millions in Florida remained without power after Hurricane Milton tore a path of destruction across the central and northern parts of the state late Wednesday into Thursday.

Meanwhile, cleanup and recovery efforts continue across the southeast, which was hit hard by Helene nearly two weeks ago.

With less than four weeks to go until Election Day in November, Harris and Trump are locked in a narrow margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election, the politics of federal disaster relief are again front and center on the campaign trail.

CLICK HERE FOR UP-TO-DATE FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE STORMS

“Vice President Harris and I have been in constant contact with the state and local officials. We’re offering everything they need,” Biden emphasized on Thursday.

Among those the president spoke with was Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

While DeSantis and Harris have traded verbal fire this week over whether he ignored hurricane-related calls from her, the governor and Biden have worked together on storm response and relief efforts.

“I spoke with the president this morning,” DeSantis said during one of his numerous briefings on Thursday. “He said he wants to be helpful. And so if we have a request, he said, send them his way, and he wants to help us get the job done. So I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state and local governments and work together to put the people first.”

Despite those comments and others from DeSantis as well as other leading Republican officeholders in the storm-struck southeast, Trump has continuously slammed Biden and Harris.

DESANTIS AND HARRIS TRADE FIRE OVER HURRICANE CALL

“THE WORST RESPONSE TO A STORM OR HURRICANE DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY,” Trump claimed in a social media post on Tuesday.

“The worst hurricane response since Katrina,” the former president charged on Wednesday as he pointed to the much-maligned initial federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which was heavily criticized for being slow and ineffective.

Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in battleground Pennsylvania, lobbed another political bomb at Harris, arguing that “She just led the worst rescue operation in history in North Carolina…the worst ever, they say.”

And the former president once again made false claims that FEMA diverted money intended for disaster relief and spent it on undocumented migrants in the U.S. as he turned up the volume on his inflammatory rhetoric over the combustible issue of illegal immigration.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS WEATHER UPDATES ON HURRICANE MILTON

“You know where they gave the money to: illegal immigrants coming,” Trump said as the crowd of MAGA supporters loudly booed.

Hours later, Biden pushed back, accusing the Republican presidential nominee of leading an “onslaught of lies.”

Biden charged that the rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans was “beyond ridiculous” and that “it’s got to stop.”

But on Thursday at a campaign event in Michigan, Trump kept up the attacks. He praised southern Republican governors for doing a “fantastic job” reacting to the storms and argued that “the federal government, on the other hand, has not done what you’re supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina. They’ve let those people suffer unjustly, unjustly.”

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris greets people who were impacted by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Ga., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, as Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson watches at right. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Harris, in a Wednesday interview with the Weather Channel, also chided Trump.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This is not a time for us to just point fingers at each other as Americans,” the vice president said. “Anybody who considers themselves to be a leader should really be in the business right now of giving people a sense of confidence that we’re all working together and that we have the resources and the ability to work together on their behalf.”

Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt, responding to the criticism, said in a statement to Fox News on Thursday, “is this the same Joe Biden who President Trump knocked out of the race with the most dominant debate performance in history? Maybe he should keep quiet and go back to the beach. President Trump has a great life and it entails working hard every day to save this country from the mess Biden and Kamala got us into.”

Fox News’ Kirill Clark and Matteo Cina contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

It’s hard to understand the money when it comes to natural disasters.

Does FEMA have enough to respond? Will residents get money after their car, home, business, town are destroyed by floodwaters? Will Congress approve additional tranches of disaster relief – both in the near-term and down the road.

So, let’s follow the money.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WITH NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER

FEMA’s coffers for “immediate needs” and the Disaster Relief Program (DRF) were nearly bone dry as Congress approved an interim spending bill to keep the government from shutting down in late September. Lawmakers awarded FEMA more than $20 billion to reload the DRF, which dwindled to around $1 billion and change in September.

Congress restocked the DRF simply because it was prudent to do so. Lawmakers had to return to Washington in an emergency session in the late summer of 2005 to refurbish the DRF after Hurricane Katrina. Front-loading the DRF with $20 billion this year would be enough for FEMA to get through any natural disaster until Congress returned in mid-November.

That’s why FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell signaled things were fine with money for FEMA.

For now.

“I have the funding and sufficient resources to support the ongoing responses to Hurricane Helene, as well as Hurricane Milton,” said Criswell. “We had thought that we would go into immediate needs funding in December or January. I need to assess that every day to see if I’m going to be able to wait that long.”

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is pictured in front of the U.S. Capitol. (Getty Images)

This is why House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., resisted demands to recall Congress to address the storms. President Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre have insisted that Congress come back ahead of schedule. The House and Senate are on recess until after the elections in mid-November.

Regardless of the severity of both storms, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Congress returns to replenish FEMA’s coffers. Yes. It’s good politics for the President, Mayorkas and lawmakers in the affected areas and others to implore Congressional leaders to summon the House and Senate back to Washington. It gives the illusion of exhausting all options. Plus, if Johnson or Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., don’t call people back, those from the opposite party can suggest that they aren’t responsive or taking the damage as seriously as they should.

Moreover, it’s probably not even necessary for Congress to come back into session until November 12th. The DRF is now well stocked. Only something as catastrophic as thermonuclear war could draw down the DRF to zero before next month. So draining the fund that fast – prompting Congressional action – is not likely.

When lawmakers returned in a dramatic, emergency, witching-hour session in 2005 to replenish money for FEMA in the wake of Katrina, it did so with a skeleton crew. Only a few lawmakers showed up. Then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., approved the bill on the floor after a few quick remarks and “unanimous consent.”

HOW US GOVERNMENT WILL DOLE OUT AID TO VICTIMS OF HURRICANES MILTON, HELENE

There are three methods for the House and Senate to vote. A roll call vote where each Member is recorded as yea or nay. A “voice vote.” That’s where those in favor yell “aye” and those opposed shout “nay.” The louder side (supposedly) prevails. Then there is “unanimous consent.” That’s where a bill comes to the floor and a Member simply asks to pass a bill (more often in the Senate). If all Members agree, the bill is passed. But if there is a single objection, everything stops. The bill is dead.

Approving an emergency storm relief bill with a handful of people may have worked right after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But American politics now occupies a very different galaxy than the one 19 years ago.

In late March 2020, Congress attempted to approve a staggering $2.3 trillion relief package as the COVID-19 pandemic burned across the planet. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution says that a “Majority” of the House and Senate “shall constitute a Quorum to do Business.” But the House and Senate conduct business all the time without a proper quorum. It’s usually not a problem so long as no one presses the issue.

When the COVID bill hit the House floor, leaders insisted on social distancing. The aim was to approve the bill via unanimous consent or a voice vote. A formal roll call would require that all 435 House members come to the floor at once. Not an optimal scenario in the initial, dangerous days of the pandemic.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) gives remarks at a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony for the 13 American service members who died in the suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on September 10, 2024, in Washington, DC.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

However, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wanted to “make a point of order” that the House lacked a quorum and demand a roll call vote. Even former President Trump torched Massie, tweeting that the Kentucky Republican was “grandstanding” and should be evicted from the GOP.

Former Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., presided over the vote. He quickly counted Members present. Both the majority and minority devised a way to bring a large number of Members into the House chamber to represent a quorum. Some materialized, spread out on the floor. Others appeared on the balcony of the then-closed public viewing gallery.

For Brown, that was enough. The quorum was present. He gaveled the bill to passage without a roll call vote.

In today’s toxified atmosphere, it’s hard to believe that lawmakers from both sides wouldn’t protest if leaders try to summon the House and Senate back to Washington for an emergency vote, ala, Katrina. Even though it’s disaster aid, some will carp about the extra spending. They might accuse leaders of trying to ram through the measure without enough vetting. The 2020 coronavirus package vote hints at potential problems unless all lawmakers are recalled to debate and vote on emergency spending.

FORMER NIH OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF MAKING EMAILS ‘DISAPPEAR’ PLEADS FIFTH TO COVID SUBCOMMITTEE

Then there is the question of offsets.

Republicans representing the path of both storms certainly want the federal government to send disaster aid to stricken areas. But deficit hawks will demand offsets before authorizing new spending.

“We should definitely take take it from other places that the government just doesn’t need to be spending money in,” said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Fox. “There are areas that our government is spending money in that we should not be. It’s really just political pet projects.”

But what one Member views as a pet project is essential spending to another. Congress will gore someone’s ox if it takes this approach.

As we often say, it’s about the math.

“Tell me where you can get the votes to do it?” asked one senior House Republican source familiar with the spending process. “That isn’t going to happen. That never happens.”

Top view of the destruction left behind from Hurricane Milton. (REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo)

The federal government is already into Fiscal Year 2025 and there is no agreed-upon topline spending number. So that makes it harder to find offsets.

So the fate of disaster relief?

“This will just go on the credit card,” said the source.

Here’s what to look for in the coming days:

There will be clamor for Congress to return to session. President Biden wants Congress to come back. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the President “may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them.” However, both House and Senate are not in the proper parliamentary posture for a presidential recall. The House and Senate are not “adjourned.” They are technically “in session,” meeting at regular three-day intervals with only a Member or two present until after the election.

Also, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., intends to bring Criswell before his panel in mid-November for a hearing.

Finally, Congress will struggle with refurbishing funds to the National Flood Insurance Program and helping the Small Business Administration have enough money to assist storm victims. Mayorkas said that he has always known the flood program “to be in the red.”

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There’s a lot of money to follow in the coming months when it comes to the dual disasters. Was it too much? Too little? Did they spend it in the right places? Was it spent quickly? Too slowly? And inevitably, lawmakers will find something which went wrong.

The storms may have passed. But storm clouds on Capitol Hill about the federal response are just brewing.

Democratic strategists are calling on the Harris campaign to get more aggressive amid concerns her early momentum, spurred largely by Harris’ debate performance and the Democratic National Convention, has waned due to a number of factors.

“I’m scared to death,” Democratic strategist James Carville said Wednesday. 

“Now that the sugar high is gone, people have realized what Kamala Harris has said from the start, which is that she is the underdog,” Anthony Coley, a former Biden and Obama staffer turned political consultant, told The Hill. 

“If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention,” former Harris communications director Jamal Simmons added.

KAMALA HARRIS’ SUPPORT WITH ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN MICHIGAN IS ‘TENUOUS’: DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST

David Axelrod, former White House senior adviser to former President Obama, speaks to a guest at an event at the White House in 2009. (Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, David Axelrod, widely regarded as the political mastermind behind former President Obama’s 2008 victory, recognized that “Harris had a great launch, right through the convention and the debate,” but he acknowledged “the race has plateaued.” 

Carville’s remarks that he is “scared to death” about Nov. 5, came during an interview Wednesday with MSNBC’s Ari Melber. Carville estimated that with Hurricane Milton dominating the news cycle, Harris only has about 20 days to amplify her messaging.

JAMES CARVILLE SAYS DEMOCRATS TALK ABOUT JANUARY 6 AND 2020 ELECTION TOO MUCH, SHOULD MOVE ON

An anonymous Democratic strategist told The Hill that Harris is still “fine-tuning her message” way too close to Election Day. “We are in the ‘make the sale’ phase of the campaign now. We’re not still tweaking the message,” the strategist pointed out.  

Some of the criticism from Democratic strategists also included suggestions the Harris campaign get more aggressive.

“They need to be sharp. They need to be aggressive. They need to stop answering questions and start asking questions,” Carville insisted Wednesday. “I think she and the whole campaign need to be much more aggressive and much less passive than they are.”

Political commentator James Carville ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“In these campaigns, every time you clear a bar, the bar gets raised,” added Axelrod. “You have to lift your game and adjust your strategy.”

With Election Day rapidly approaching, polling in three critical battleground states show former President Trump making gains, but the race still remains a toss-up between the two candidates. 

According to polling from Quinnipiac University, Harris is maintaining a three-point advantage over Trump in battleground Pennsylvania. However, that is a drop from Harris’ six-point lead in Quinnipiac’s September polling of Pennsylvania voters. 

TRUMP HAS 9-POINT LEAD ON MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE TO VOTERS: POLL

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump (Getty Images)

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Quinnipiac polling in Michigan shows Trump with a three-point edge, and it shows him with a two-point advantage in Wisconsin. Quinnipiac’s Michigan polling last month had Harris leading by five points, while its Wisconsin polling had her at a one-point advantage over Trump. 

“That was then, this is now,” Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac, said. “The Harris post-debate starburst dims to a glow as Harris enters the last weeks slipping slightly in the Rust Belt.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday doubled down on his fierce criticism of those he accused of deliberately spreading false information about the work the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is doing during hurricane season.

“There is so much false information being spread, and we cannot have people relying on that false information or actually deterred from seeking relief that’s available to them that they need because of that false information,” Mayorkas said on “Morning Joe” Wednesday before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida Wednesday night. “It’s really pernicious.”

Mayorkas, along with DHS and FEMA, have been under pressure over the handling of Hurricane Helene. The agency has been pushing back against claims online that it has diverted resources to illegal immigrants, that it is out of money, that it has been slow in responding and that it is blocking recovery flights. 

MAYORKAS RIPS ‘POLITICIZED’ ATMOSPHERE OVER FEMA DISASTER RESPONSE AMID GOP CRITICISM’
 

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks at the daily press briefing at the White House. (Getty Images)

Focus on the agency was fueled when Mayorkas said last week that FEMA does “not have the funds to make it through the season” although he said it did have enough for “immediate needs.” The administration has pushed for Congress to return and pass a spending bill to provide additional funding for the hurricane season.

But the questions over funding led critics to look at the $650 million provided for grants to help illegal immigrants in the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). It led to accusations, including from former President Trump, that money that could have gone to disaster relief was being diverted. The administration pointed to the fact that the funding is congressionally appropriated and is separate from the much larger Disaster Relief Fund. But Republicans have still expressed concern that an “entanglement” in the border crisis has had a knock-on effect.

SPEAKER JOHNSON RIPS ‘LACK OF LEADERSHIP’ IN BIDEN ADMIN’S HELENE RESPONSE: ‘ALARMED AND DISAPPOINTED’ 

A crane sits on the street after crashing down into the building housing the Tampa Bay Times offices after the arrival of Hurricane Milton Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Others have pointed to a possible political bias after an “equity” blueprint went vital, saying “Diversity, equity, and inclusion cannot be optional.” 

Republicans have accused the administration of mishandling the response more broadly, with House Speaker Mike Johnson accusing it of “egregious errors and mistakes” and a lack of leadership.

But FEMA and DHS have been pushing back against numerous viral online claims that it says are false, including claims that FEMA grants must be repaid, that it is distributing aid based on demographic characteristics and that it is restricting airspace for recovery operations. 

President Biden has also slammed “reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people.”

On Wednesday, Mayorkas warned that misinformation can stop recovery efforts.

TRUMP TARGETS BIDEN, HARRIS OVER FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE: ‘INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED’

“Historically, this country has come together as one in times of crisis, in times of disaster. We need that history to be lived today. We cannot have the irresponsible voices that actually wreak damage to individuals in need and prevent survivors from seeking the relief that is available to them,” he said.

He had made a similar appeal on Tuesday night on MSNBC, speaking on the impact on the workforce and on the ability for individuals to get help.

“It is extraordinarily damaging. Most of all, it is extraordinarily damaging to the survivors of Hurricane Helene, of natural disasters. Individuals lose trust in their government, they are reluctant to seek the assistance that they need to meet their immediate demands — food, water, shelter. They don’t seek it. They are entitled to it. They need it,” Mayorkas said. “We implore them to ignore the false information that is being spread and to seek the help that we have available to them.

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“It is also extremely demoralizing to our federal law, our emergency response personnel, the state and local emergency response personnel who are risking their lives in the service of those in need. When we reach into flooded zones, when we reach into a home that has been destroyed to assist another individual, we don’t ask about their party affiliation. We are there to help, and they need to understand that. They need to trust us. They can rely on us.”

Earlier this week, Mayorkas warned that people “are not seeking that relief because of the disinformation, the intentionally false information they are receiving.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, remained silent Thursday on whether he still supports eliminating the Electoral College, after the Harris campaign insisted his position did not reflect that of the campaign’s. 

“I think all of us know, the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote,” Walz said during a campaign fundraiser Tuesday at the home of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Walz made similar comments at an earlier fundraiser in Seattle as well.

While running for president in 2019, Harris said she was “open” to the idea of abolishing the Electoral College. However, according to campaign officials pressed on the issue following Walz’s remarks, eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote is not an official position of Harris’ current campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Walz repeatedly to inquire whether he still supports replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote, particularly after his campaign came out against it. A response was never received, but the Harris-Walz campaign did release a statement to certain news outlets suggesting Walz’s remarks were intended to express support for the Electoral College process.

IF 2024 POLLING ERRORS MIRROR THOSE IN 2020 ELECTION, TRUMP ‘WINS IN A BLOWOUT,’ CNN DATA GURU SAYS

U.S. Electoral College map shows number of electoral votes by state. (Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“Governor Walz believes that every vote matters in the Electoral College and he is honored to be traveling the country and battleground states working to earn support for the Harris-Walz ticket,” a Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement sent to select media outlets like CNN and USA Today. “He was commenting to a crowd of strong supporters about how the campaign is built to win 270 electoral votes. And, he was thanking them for their support that is helping fund those efforts.” 

Debate over whether a national popular vote should replace the Electoral College surged in 2016 when Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote, cementing his victory despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. “I think it needs to be eliminated,” Clinton told CNN after her 2016 loss to Trump. “I’d like to see us move beyond it, yes.” Clinton made similar calls earlier in her career as well.

Just last month, Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin suggested there could be deadly consequences for Americans if the Electoral College was not done away with. Raskin said a national popular vote was a far better option than the current “convoluted, antique, obsolete system from the 18th century, which these days can get you killed as nearly it did on Jan. 6, 2021.”

Rep. Raskin criticized the Electoral College as an outdated relic from America’s past. (C-Span)

NEBRASKA GOP SENATOR OPPOSES ELECTORAL COLLEGE CHANGE THAT MAY HAVE HELPED TRUMP WIN RE-ELECTION

The Electoral College has been something that both Republicans and Democrats have tried to do away with in the past, but contemporary calls for its abolition surged among Democrats after Clinton’s loss. The process was established by the nation’s Founding Fathers, seen as a compromise between the election of president by vote in Congress and election by a popular vote of qualified citizens. Electoral College votes, of which 270 are needed for any presidential candidate to win, are allocated based on the Census. The process effectively allows voters in states with lower populations to have a similar impact on the election as those voters living in higher population densities. The Electoral College is also thought to be a protective measure against super thin margins and excessive recounts.

In May 2023, as governor, Walz signed a broad ranging election bill that included a provision to allocate the state’s electors based on who receives the most votes nationwide, even if it doesn’t match the outcome in their state. The measure, known as the “National Popular Vote Interstate Compact,” has been supported by 17 states and the District of Columbia, but will only take effect after all the states that have signed on have a total electoral vote count of 270. Right now, those supporting the reform only have 209, according to CBS News.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris (Fox News )

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Polling from the Pew Research Center released last month showed a majority of Americans favor moving away from the Electoral College. Since 2016, the sentiment has steadily increased, and, according to Pew, more than 6 in 10 Americans today prefer the national popular vote over the Electoral College. 

Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, a nonprofit that advocates in favor of retaining the Electoral College, argued Walz “said the quiet part out loud” when he insisted the Electoral College should be eliminated. 

“Democrat leaders don’t think they should have to campaign in places like Michigan and North Carolina, they want California and New York to decide every election,” Snead argued. “There is a pattern here. Democrats claim to love democracy, then set their sights on any institution that stands between them and political power: the Supreme Court, the Senate filibuster, and the Electoral College.”

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 96, her family announced Thursday.

Kennedy had been hospitalized earlier this month after suffering a stroke Oct. 3. 

Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman, announced Ethel’s passing in a post on social media.

“It is with our hearts full of love that we announce the passing of our amazing grandmother, Ethel Kennedy. She died this morning from complications related to a stroke suffered last week. Along with a lifetime’s work in social justice and human rights, our mother leaves behind nine children, 34 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom love her dearly,” Kennedy wrote.

She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and we are comforted in knowing she is reunited with the love of her life, our father, Robert F. Kennedy; her children David and Michael; her daughter-in-law Mary; her grandchildren Maeve and Saoirse; and her great-grandchildren Gideon and Josie,” he added. “Please keep her in your hearts and prayers.”

Ethel was the sister-in-law of former President John F. Kennedy. She founded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization in 1968 after her husband was assassinated in June 1968.

Ethel’s death comes at a time of division within the Kennedy family, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsing former President Trump to the anger of his siblings and other family members, who support Vice President Kamala Harris.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. LAMBASTS ‘DNC-ALIGNED MAINSTREAM MEDIA,’ ACCUSES THEM OF ENGINEERING HARRIS’ RISE

Kennedy faced faced questions about the family drama in recent weeks following a letter from Kennedy’s siblings condemning his endorsement of Trump.

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert F. Kennedy, passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday.

“You know, my family is at the center of the Democratic Party. I have members of my family that are working for the Biden administration. Biden has a bust of my father behind him at the Oval Office, and he’s been a family friend for many years,” Kennedy told Fox News in August.

KENNEDY FAMILY CHOOSES POLITICS OVER FAMILY WITH ENDORSEMENT IN 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

“My family is – I understand that they’re troubled by my decisions. I love my family. I feel like we were raised in a milieu where we were encouraged to debate each other and debate ferociously and passionately about things and still love each other,” he added. “They’re free to take their positions on these issues. There are many, many members of my family working at my campaign and who are supporting me.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his decision to endorse Trump against criticism from his family. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“I think we all need to be able to disagree with each other and still love each other,” he concluded.

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Kennedy had previously noted that his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, has not been totally on board. Hines posted on social media about the decision to withdraw, and Kennedy acknowledged that she was “very uncomfortable” with his decision.

Kennedy has not yet publicly acknowledged Ethel’s death.

The legal battle surrounding the controversial Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program continues to play out in court.

The current clash involves arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Thursday as multiple states, including New Jersey, face off with the federal government and other parties.

The DACA program pertains to permitting undocumented individuals who arrived in the U.S. as young people to remain in America.

OBAMA MARKS 12 YEARS SINCE ‘DREAMERS’ EXECUTIVE ACTION, SEEKS ‘PERMANENT’ SOLUTION FOR DACA RECIPIENTS

Former President Obama and President Biden mark the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act, at the White House on April 5, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“DACA temporarily delays the deportation of people without documentation who came to the U.S. as children,” according to USA.gov. 

But the policy has previously been deemed unlawful amid legal wranglings.

A 2021 order signed by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen instructed the Department of Homeland Security “to post a public notice, within 3 calendar days of this Injunction, to be displayed prominently on its website and on the websites of all other relevant agencies, that a United States District Court has found the DACA program to be illegal[.]”

REPUBLICAN STATES ASK FEDERAL JUDGE TO END ‘UNLAWFUL’ DACA PROGRAM SUPPORTED BY BIDEN, OBAMA, OPPOSED BY TRUMP

The Department of Homeland Security seal on a podium at the Ronald Reagan Building on Aug. 21, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

But Hanen indicated that the government was not being instructed to nix the DACA status of any recipients in good standing at the time.

Similarly, a Biden-era rule pertaining to DACA has also been slapped down. 

In 2023, Hanen wrote that “the Court finds that the Final Rule, like the 2012 DACA Memorandum before it, is subject to this Court’s (and the Fifth Circuit’s) prior rulings. There are no material differences between the two programs. As such, the Final Rule suffers from the same legal impediments.”

TEXAS JUDGE WHO PREVIOUSLY DEEMED DACA ILLEGAL REAFFIRMS RULING

This aerial picture taken on Dec. 8, 2023, shows the US-Mexico border wall in Sasabe, Arizona. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

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“We are deeply disappointed in today’s DACA ruling from the District Court in Southern Texas,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement in September 2023.

“On day one of his Administration, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the federal government to take all appropriate actions to ‘preserve and fortify the DACA policy. Consistent with that directive, the Administration has defended the DACA policy from legal challenges, and issued a final rule codifying this longstanding policy,” Jean-Pierre noted.

The family of a Georgia woman who died after undergoing a medication abortion – and was subsequently cited by Democrats as a tragic example of red states’ “restrictive” abortion laws – is blaming the hospital for the woman’s death and readying a lawsuit, according to their attorney. 

Amber Thurman, 28, died in 2022 after experiencing complications from taking abortion pills. She traveled to the Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge to receive a dilation and curettage procedure to remove the remaining tissue from the terminated pregnancy, but hospital staff allegedly waited about 20 hours before performing the procedure. 

High-profile civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump will represent the family in their upcoming case against the hospital. Crump pinned blame for Thurman’s death on the hospital and not Georgia’s recent law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, Spectrum News reported. 

“Even under Georgia law, the doctors had a duty to act to save Amber,” Crump said last week. “She had taken the abortion pills and there were tissues left. There was no viable fetus or anything that would have prevented them from saving her life while she suffered.”

HARRIS ECHOES DEBUNKED CLAIM ABOUT GEORGIA ABORTION LIMITS CAUSING WOMAN’S DEATH DESPITE PUSHBACK FROM DOCTORS

Attorney Ben Crump is representing the family of Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died from complications from a medical abortion. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)

“You have a duty to stabilize her and then give her the option to go to another hospital facility,” Crump said. “But you cannot let her suffer and die on your hospital bed when the death is preventable.”

WALZ REPEATS GEORGIA ABORTION DEATH FALSEHOOD DECRIED BY DOCTORS AS ‘FEARMONGERING’

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the LIFE Act into law in 2019, but it did not take effect until 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which effectively ended the recognition of a constitutional right to abortion. 

Gov. Brian Kemp, who signed Georgia’s “heartbeat law” into effect, is seen here delivering his State of the State speech on Jan. 11, 2024 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Thurman’s death in August 2022 has since become the first known abortion death since the Supreme Court’s decision, with Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, citing her death as the result of “restrictive” Republican-backed abortion laws. 

GEORGIA DOCTORS SPEAK OUT TO CHALLENGE MISINFORMATION ON STATE’S ABORTION LAW, DEATH OF AMBER THURMAN

Georgia’s heartbeat law states that “no abortion shall be performed if the unborn child has a detectable human heartbeat except in the event of a medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy.” The law makes exceptions for abortions after the six-week mark, including in the event of a medical emergency or medically futile pregnancy, or a pregnancy through rape or incest when the probable gestational age of the baby is less than 20 weeks. 

ProPublica first published an article on Thurman’s death last month, blaming her death and another Georgia woman’s death, Candi Miller, on the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the state’s new abortion limits. 

Harris cited Thurman’s death on Sunday during an interview on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

“[Thurman] was, as described by her family, so excited and so ambitious, and she had plans. Then she found out she was pregnant, and she didn’t want to go through with her pregnancy. And she was living in Georgia, and she couldn’t receive care there because she was past six weeks. And so she ended up going to another state, and…she couldn’t get there on time. And because the other state had been so overwhelmed by all these women coming from all these southern states who couldn’t get treatment in their own state, her window for her appointment had closed and instead of having a surgical procedure, she had medication and basically went back home and then had some complications and went to the hospital because she was bleeding.”

“And they delayed 20 hours before they treated her,” Harris continued, suggesting that Georgia’s laws prevented her from receiving lifesaving care.

In a previous press release announcing Crump would represent Thurman’s family members in court, he did blame Thurman’s death on Georgia’s abortion law. 

OB-GYNS DECRY THE ‘FEARMONGERING’ ABOUT GEORGIA’S ABORTION LAWS: ‘THE LIES ARE HURTING WOMEN’

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at the Philip Chosky Theatre in Pittsburgh. (Rebecca Droke/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Amber Thurman’s preventable death is a horrifying consequence of draconian abortion laws that put politics ahead of women’s lives. These lawmakers bear responsibility for creating hesitation among health care workers, who are fearful of the legal consequences when providing necessary care. Her family deserves accountability for the delays in life-saving care that cost Amber her life. We are committed to seeking justice for Amber and fighting for a country where no other family suffers such a devastating loss due to dangerous, unnecessary legal barriers,” Crump said in the press release. 

OB-GYNs have criticized the recent narrative from Democrats as a misleading story that is pushed by the media. 

“I was not surprised to see this pro-abortion media try to point the blame at Georgia’s pro-life laws, but, in fact, Georgia’s laws allow doctors to intervene to save the life of the woman,” Charlotte Lozier Institute Vice President and Director of Medical Affairs Dr. Ingrid Skop recently told Fox News Digital. 

“I think the focus of the Democratic Party upon abortion as an issue is only because the American people do not understand the laws. Many times, women are hurt by abortions. It is not necessary for women to live their best life. And, of course, it’s the fearmongering and lies that have led us to this place where we are today, where people even think there would be a reason to point at the law.”​​

AMBER NICOLE THURMAN WAS A ‘VICTIM OF HIGH-RISK ABORTION DRUGS’: DR. CHRISTINA FRANCIS

Thurman’s stepfather, Elijah Warren, has called on Democrats, specifically Harris, to stop politicizing the death, saying when he sees politicians talking about Thurman’s death, it is “like a funeral happening over and over.”

“I can see [Harris] using that as the only tool in Georgia against Trump,” Warren told the New York Post this week. 

“She is going to push that; I expect it. But it’s too much. It’s kind of like a funeral happening over and over again every time I see that.”

Warren said he views Thurman’s death, which was caused by septic shock, “more as a neglect of the hospital” than the Georgia law. 

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“They should have watched over my stepdaughter … The abortion already happened. There wasn’t a heartbeat going on,” he said. “They should have just cleaned the tissue; that would have saved her life.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to Crump’s office for updates on the upcoming suit as well as to the Harris campaign but did not receive responses by publication deadline.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.    

A Republican congressman from hard-hit North Carolina is accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of playing politics with Hurricane Helene after the storm ravaged the Southeast and killed more than 230 people.

Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., implored his district’s residents to not believe “outrageous rumors” about the response to the storm in an open letter published Tuesday. 

“[Federal Emergency Management Agency] FEMA officials have repeatedly affirmed that the agency has enough money for immediate response and recovery needs over the next few months,” Edwards wrote. “Secretary Mayorkas’ statement indicating otherwise was an irresponsible attempt to politicize a tragedy for personal gain.”

He also defended FEMA from “outrageous rumors” that disaster funds were being diverted to help illegal immigrants, and that aid was being blocked from reaching its destination.

TRUMP LAUNCHES GOFUNDME TO HELP HURRICANE HELENE VICTIMS, RAISES MORE THAN $1M

GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards, left, whose district was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, is criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ recent comments. (Getty Images)

“We have seen a level of support that is unmatched by most any other disaster nationwide; but amidst all of the support, we have also seen an uptick in untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos by sharing hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and hearsay about hurricane response efforts across our mountains,” Edwards wrote.

It comes after Mayorkas warned last week that FEMA did not have the funds to make it through the current hurricane season, spurring alarm across the country.

Mayorkas was forced to clarify those comments during the same conversation with reporters, stating FEMA had funding to meet its “immediate needs.”

The comments were met with skepticism by GOP leaders after Congress made $20 billion in FEMA funds available in federal funding legislation last month, and it exacerbated tensions as some North Carolina residents are already struggling with adequate supplies and aid.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested to Fox News Digital last week that the House would act on additional disaster aid as soon as possible but noted it likely will not be possible until November, when Congress returns after the election. 

FOX CORPORATION LAUNCHES DONATION DRIVE FOR AMERICAN RED CROSS HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF EFFORTS

Members of the Florida Army National Guard check for any remaining residents in nearly deserted Bradenton Beach, where piles of debris from Hurricane Helene flooding still sit outside damaged homes ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 on Anna Maria Island, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Edwards said in his letter that he was already helping prepare a supplemental funding bill for when the time comes.

The funding woes also prompted some Republicans to point to a separate FEMA-run program that provides support to illegal immigrants at the border, questioning whether the roughly $1 billion allocated there over the last two fiscal years was taken from money for disaster relief.

However, Edwards unequivocally denied that in his Tuesday letter, despite top Republicans like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., promoting the claim.

HURRICANE HELENE: NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AS BASIC GOODS BECOME SCARCE

“Disaster response efforts and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts,” Edwards said. “FEMA’s non-disaster related presence at the border has always been of major concern to me, even before Hurricane Helene, and I will continue to condemn their deployment of personnel to the southern border, but we must separate the two issues.”

Edwards admitted FEMA had “shortfalls” in its response but denied the federal agency was seizing private property or providing only $750 to disaster survivors, claims that were spread on the internet by unverified sources.

GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards said disaster aid was not being redirected to the southern border. (HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

He also said FEMA was not conducting road closures or vehicle inspections, nor was it restricting airspace for rescue operations.

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“Nobody seeking to fly resources into Western North Carolina will be prohibited from doing so by the FAA or North Carolina Emergency Management so long as they coordinate their efforts with NC Aviation,” Edwards wrote.

It comes after Elon Musk spread rumors that FEMA was blocking the distribution of supplies and that airspace was blocked amid his efforts to distribute Starlink internet connections.

Edwards also assured that Hurricane Helene “was NOT geoengineered by the government,” noting, “Nobody can control the weather.”

That came in response to online conspiracy theories that the federal government intentionally created the hurricane to take control of the area’s lithium mines.

The DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Republicans in Michigan are attempting to capitalize on Vice President Kamala Harris’ struggles with blue-collar voters in the state, a demographic that has traditionally supported Democrats but has been trending in the direction of former President Donald Trump.

“Michigan’s working class isn’t fooled by Kamala Harris’ word salads and dog and pony shows. Her policies, like the radical Green New Deal, are anti-worker,” Team Trump Michigan Communications Director Victoria LaCivita told Fox News Digital. “Her attack on American energy has made the cost of living unaffordable, and her plan to ban gas-powered cars will decimate the backbone of our economy.”

The comments come as the race to win Michigan, a vital swing state in the upcoming election, heats up, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing Harris with just a slim 0.5 point lead in the state with just under four weeks to go before the election.

Republicans have hit the state repeatedly in recent weeks, with both Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, making several appearances in the state.

KAMALA HARRIS CONFRONTED ON NOT EARNING TEAMSTERS ENDORSEMENT: ‘WHAT WAS THEIR REASONING?’

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Those appearances come as Michigan Democrats have begun to worry about the vice president’s prospects in the state, with some imploring her to visit the state more frequently as the race hits the home stretch.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, prominent Michigan Democrats, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have made appeals to the Harris campaign to focus on the state more as the election draws to a close. They have also warned Harris to sharpen her economic messaging, the report notes, with fears spreading that Trump has done well to court the state’s working class voters.

Harris has struggled to distance herself from past positions that remain unpopular in the so-called “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, including her previous support for transitioning fully to zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 and a ban on fracking.

Those concerns were also highlighted by an internal poll shared with the Wall Street Journal that was conducted by Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s campaign that showed Harris down by three points in Wisconsin, another key Midwestern state with similar voting habits to Michigan.

“The big thing is people don’t know her—they need to see more of her,” former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, a Democrat, told the Wall Street Journal.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

FIREFIGHTERS UNION PRAISED FOR ‘SIGNIFICANT NON-ENDORSEMENT’ AFTER BACKING BIDEN IN 2020: ‘HUGE WIN FOR TRUMP’

Republicans believe that is because Harris has failed in her outreach to the types of workers that have now started gravitating toward Trump.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital that Harris’ message does not “resonate with working class voters” such as those in the upper Midwest, something that could also help down-ballot Republicans in the critical swing states.

Harris’ struggles have also extended to union members, a group that has long been a stronghold for Democrats in the state. However, an internal poll conducted by Teamsters, one of the country’s largest and most influential unions, found that members in Michigan preferred Trump (61.7%) over Harris (35.2%), while national union leaders declined to make an endorsement in this year’s presidential race, despite supporting President Biden’s campaign in 2020.

Harris also failed to gain the support of the International Association of Fire Fighters, which also supported Biden in 2020, though she did gain the support of both United Auto Workers and the Service Employees International Union.

President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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“The Teamsters’ own polling shows exactly what we knew – that rank and file Michigan Teamsters are supporting President Trump and his pro-worker policies,” LaCivita said. “While local chapter leadership refuses to disrupt the status quo, the Michiganders who make up these chapters want strong leadership that will protect their jobs, lower inflation, and support American industries – and that’s President Donald J. Trump.”

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.