Joe Biden appears to forget about storm in new gaffe just hours after visiting impacted community
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been touring North and South Carolina and Georgia to assess Helene's damage
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Joe Biden made yet another verbal gaffe last night when he appeared to forget about a deadly storm - just hours after visiting the communities it had swept through.
Just hours after visiting South Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Biden, 81, was asked what the states impacted by it needed.
But when he moved to answer, the President said: "Oh, storm zone? I didn't know which storm you're talking about..."
Eventually, the 81-year-old found his answer, telling reporters: "Uh... They're getting everything they need. They're very happy, across the board."
Biden told reporters: "Uh... They're getting everything they need. They're very happy, across the board"
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Both Biden and his pick to succeed him, Vice President Kamala Harris, have been touring North and South Carolina and Georgia to assess Helene's damage - though Republican challenger Donald Trump got there first.
Trump visited the city of Valdosta in Georgia on Monday - where he claimed Biden had been unresponsive to the hurricane's destruction.
Trump said he brought "truckloads of things" to Georgia, including oil, water and equipment, and that he partnered with evangelical Christian leader Franklin Graham's relief organisation to deliver them.
The visit effectively handed him "an opportunity to ride into the rescue as the saviour," political analyst Stuart Rothenberg said.
MORE BIDEN BLUNDERS:
States across the American southeast have been ravaged by the hurricane
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US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the rebuilding process will be extremely costly and could take years
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"While Biden and Harris abandon Americans in times of crisis, President Trump leads," Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt added.
Andrew Reeves, a professor at Washington University in St Louis who researches natural disasters' effects on politics, has warned that a "massive screw-up" in the Biden administration's response to Helene "could come back to bite" Harris.
So far, Biden has made major disaster declarations in several states, which allows survivors to apply for federal assistance - and some 3,500 federal workers are involved in relief efforts, according to the White House.
But Trump has also authorised a parallel crowd-funding campaign "as an official response for MAGA supporters" which has raised over $2million (£1.5million).
Trump has also authorised a parallel crowd-funding campaign "as an official response for MAGA supporters"
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Reeves' research has found that sitting presidents received a modest bump of half a percentage point when they approve disaster aid close to elections.
But earlier this week, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the rebuilding process after Hurricane Helene will be extremely costly - and could take years.
Trump didn't sound convinced by Biden's efforts, however. In Georgia, he claimed Brian Kemp, the state's Republican governor, "was having a hard time" getting Biden on the phone.
Kemp then assured reporters that Biden had called him the evening before and said he was grateful for the federal assistance Biden had offered, while Biden said Trump had been lying.