WASHINGTON: Hurricane Milton crashed into the US presidential election on Thursday (Oct 10) as President Joe Biden told Donald Trump to “get a life” and Kamala Harris rebuked her election rival for spreading misinformation.
As Florida reeled from Milton and the recent Hurricane Helene, a political tempest was brewing as Trump and his Republicans unleashed a flood of falsehoods about the White House response to the two storms.
Biden and Harris have launched a feisty fightback as they seek to show they are in control of the situation, and accuse the former president of putting survivors in danger.
The 81-year-old president testily said, “Are you kidding me?” when a reporter asked after a hurricane briefing on Thursday if he had spoken to Trump, the man he beat in the 2020 election, to tell him to stop the misinformation.
Biden then stopped, looked directly into the television camera and said in mock commander-in-chief style: “Mr president Trump, former president Trump – get a life, man, help these people.”
He took another potshot on his way out, saying that “the public will hold him accountable” at the ballot box in November.
Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and handed the baton to his vice president after a disastrous debate against Trump, but is keenly aware the way his administration handles the hurricane response could weigh on her election chances.
