Vance blasts 'failure of leadership' amid sluggish federal response to Hurricane Helene

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Thursday excoriated the federal government over its slow response to Hurricane Helene and the late deployment of the 82nd Airborne to the region.

"But I think the most important thing here is we try to get to the bottom of how we had such a massive failure," he said at an event in Greensboro, N.C. "And I'm sorry, think about this in 2010 the terrible earthquake and Port au Prince Haiti, the 82nd airborne was there two days later. Two days later."

"The 82nd airborne is an hour away from western North Carolina, and it took six days to get him there," he went on. "That doesn't happen without a failure leadership, but we gotta get to get to the bottom of exactly what that failure of leadership looked like."

Hurricane Helene recently ravaged western North Carolina, killing more than 200, and washing away entire towns. The Biden administration has faced scrutiny over its response to the storm, in particular from the Trump campaign.

Trump himself arrived in Valdosta, Ga., in late September to bring relief supplies to the affected areas and offer support for the volunteers on the ground. He further urged Washington to provide the region with more support.

"We do need some help from the federal government. They have to get together, ideally, with the governor," Trump said at the time.