A hurricane, an intensifying war and a looming strike present a battery of new crises for Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are scrambling to revise travel plans and tactics as they face a real-time test of how they cope with unexpected crises: a trifecta of life-threatening weather, a war, and a looming dockworker strike that could drive up prices.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are scrambling to revise travel plans and tactics as they face a real-time test of how they cope with unexpected crises: a trifecta of life-threatening weather, a war and a looming dockworker strike that could drive up prices.
Harris' challenge is to shape a government response without politicizing a moment that calls for bridging national divisions.
Trump's dilemma is that any condemnation he delivers may call attention to his own actions in 2017, when he blithely tossed paper towels to Puerto Rican residents reeling from Hurricane Maria.
“These storms are make-or-break events for elected leaders when a disaster strikes,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster. “When the election is down to seven swing states that are essentially tied at the moment, and several of those swing states have suffered extraordinary damage from this storm, then any effect at the margins in these swing states could affect the outcome nationally.”
Harris canceled campaign stops and left the trail in Nevada on Monday, hustling back to Washington for an in-person briefing from federal emergency management officials about the damage wrought by Hurricane Helene.
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