Kamala’s Katrina moment? Fed response to hurricane, port strike unsettles Dems before VP debate

Heading into the vice presidential debate, the public absence of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris amid Hurricane Helene and a major labor struggle could undercut Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and put him on defense while running alongside a key player in the current White House.

Walz is set to face Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, in the vice presidential debate on CBS News on Tuesday evening.

Over the weekend, Hurricane Helene battered western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, prompting large-scale flooding and killing more than 100 as of Monday. Much of western North Carolina has become inaccessible by road and authorities have begun airlifting supplies to affected areas.

Speaking on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., indicated that, while lawmakers may eventually review the pre-planning for disaster relief, the unexpected nature of the disaster and its scale might have made adequate preparation difficult.

“I think we'll get to looking at what happened with the pre-planning after we get people stabilized and the amount of flooding is something that is unprecedented, and I don't know how, how people would have prepared for that,” she said. “It is something that is indeed catastrophic, but every time someone is located, we celebrate that moment, and then we go back to trying to get supplies and get things to those that are in need and help to locate these individuals.” 

Little attention to the looming port strike

Independent of the weather, the nation faced the prospect of the first coast-wide port strike since 1977 as the International Longshoremen’s Association has announced plans to strike all along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, beginning on Tuesday. Such a move comes amid stalled negotiations with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX). A strike could cost the U.S. economy up to $5 billion per day and affect the import and export of a wide range of goods.

President Joe Biden spent most of the weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., amid both crises, returning to the White House late Sunday evening. Harris, for her part, continued along her campaign tour of the West Coast, but canceled Monday events in Nevada to be briefed on the impact of the hurricane, CNN reported.

The relatively minimal public appearances of either figure amid both crises and the pace of their responses have drawn scrutiny from the political right, as well as comparisons to President George W. Bush’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. Such developments are sure to feature in the Vance-Walz debate on Tuesday and could serve to keep the Democratic participant on defense.

Biden confuses port strike with Yemen

Biden appeared to make a gaffe when fielding a reporter's question on military operations in Yemen, mistakenly believing the reporter had asked about the looming port strike.

"I've spoken to both sides. They gotta settle the strike. I'm supporting the collective bargaining effort. I think they'll settle the strike,” he said. Biden himself has said very little else publicly about the matter. Key figures in his administration, meanwhile, have apparently indicated that the strike is not on the top of their priorities list.

Biden Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, for her part, drew online rebuke for admitting she had “not been very focused” on the strike during a CNBC appearance. Her remark came in response to a question about the prospect of it lasting longer than one week. Raimondo was ridiculed last month when she said she "wasn't familiar" with the latest official Department of Labor jobs statistics, because she thought it "came from Donald Trump."

The ILA indicated that the strike would begin at midnight on Tuesday.

Speaking on Fox Business, Gristedes CEO John Catsimatidis speculated that Biden’s refusal to intervene could be him “getting even” with Harris over his supposed ouster from the ticket.

“Prices are going to go to the moon,” he said. “This is not going to be very good for Vice President Harris, because she's depending on lower prices.”

“Well, guess what? There is no price gouging. Prices will go higher than ever, and that is, is President Biden getting even with Kamala Harris and the forces that forced him not to run?” he asked.

Hiding from the hurricane

Harris did acknowledge the victims of the hurricane during a Sunday campaign rally and promised to help the communities rebuild, the Associated Press reported. The White House has also confirmed that Harris will eventually visit the impacted areas. But Trump, for his part, seized on the issue, attacking Harris for attending fundraising events amid the disaster and insisting Biden was not actively engaged with the issue.

“Joe Biden is in Delaware sleeping right now in one of his many estates,” Trump said at a rally. “Lyin’ Kamala Harris in San Francisco, a city that she has totally destroyed … that’s where she is right now.” She’s “at fundraising events with her Radical Left lunatic donors, when big parts of our country have been devastated by that massive hurricane and is underwater, with many, many people dead.”

Trump has also insisted that Harris should be “ought to be down in the area where she should be,” according to the AP. Trump, for his part, appeared in Valdosta, Ga., on Monday to aid with the distribution of relief supplies and speak to the press.

During that appearance, Trump expressed optimism that the federal government would provide needed aid and only mentioned that Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., had not been able to reach Biden.

While the White House has released a statement on the administration’s “robust and well-coordinated Federal support,” Biden drew scrutiny for a statement to reporters insisting that there existed no additional resources available to aid in the recovery efforts apart from that which the government had already provided.

Biden-Harris’ Katrina?

Critics and modern historians are drawing parallels between the administration’s handling of the hurricane relief effort and the criticisms levied against President George Bush in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

“The people who blamed Bush for Katrina will now insist that the disaster in North Carolina right now has absolutely nothing to do with the Biden Administration and it’s outrageous for you to insist otherwise,” quipped the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh.

“Biden said he spent two whole hours on the phone managing the Hurricane Helene storm response yesterday. Can you imagine if Bush had said that after Katrina?” asked commentator Mark Thiessen. “Bush was evicerated [sic] for not going to New Orleans immediately after Katrina but Biden and Harris go in campaigning as usual here and … crickets.”

“It is Biden's Katrina,” said radio personality Erick Erickson.

“Helene is the Biden-Harris administration’s Katrina,” wrote Newsweek’s Josh Hammer.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), moreover, has attracted criticisms amid the relief efforts over its strategic plans that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. A FEMA strategic plan for 2022-2026 identifies three goals, the first of which aims to "instill equity as a foundation of emergency management."

The second seeks for FEMA to "lead whole of community in climate resilience" while the third aims to "promote and sustain a ready FEMA and prepared nation."

"In case you’re wondering why the response to Hurricane Helene has been a disaster… Fema’s goal 1 is to instill equity as a foundation of emergency management. This is real," the Libs of TikTok X account posted.

East Palestine and Maui: sluggish response

Helene marks the third major disaster that saw Biden draw flak over his perceived sluggish response. Last year, Trump seized on a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that saw a Norfolk Southern train derail and leak toxic materials from the railcars. The development forced authorities to evacuate the town and implement a controlled burn of the chemicals to deal with the issue. Biden did not visit the city until about a year later. Trump, for his part, did so shortly after the derailment.

Later that year, Maui suffered a catastrophic wildfire that burned the town of Lahaina to the ground and killed roughly 100 people while displacing thousands more. Biden briefly visited Maui in August of last year, but drew scrutiny amid the fires for offering “no comment” to the press as the blaze ravaged the island. Biden was also on vacation in Delaware at the time.