Hurricane Helene upends Trump and Harris' plans for North Carolina
Kamala Harris is racing against lost time to flip the red state of North Carolina. Donald Trump is combating a Democratic operation that dwarfs his.
The unprecedented destruction Hurricane Helene has wreaked on western North Carolina could take months, if not years, to rebuild. Entire communities are destroyed, and scores of residents are displaced. With the presidential election in less than 26 days, both parties are scrambling to contend with the unpredictable political fallout.
For Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the Democratic nominee only 2½ months ago, the hurricane’s aftermath had meant the suspension of campaign rallies. That’s lost time when, in Harris’ world, every hour has counted, especially when the onus is on Democrats to flip a historically red state.
She will be back this weekend, though, hosting a political rally in Greenville — a part of the state not affected by the hurricane — for her first political event there since Helene hit 17 days before.
For former President Donald Trump, the devastation in deep red counties could hamper their voters’ ability to get to the polls. While state officials addressed voting issues this week, giving affected counties additional flexibility with early voting, there has been widespread pushback — from both Democrats and Republicans — to misinformation spread by some members of the GOP, including Trump himself.
And Republicans find themselves in an undeniably unusual position: In the final stretch of the race, they’re defending what was once a solid piece of the Republican map. Democrats have managed to win North Carolina only twice since 1964.
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