Centre declares Hizb-Ut-Tahrir as terrorist organisation for involvement in…
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also took to ‘X’ to mention that the action against the HuT is part of Modi government’s policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism
Ken Paxton’s voter registration suit against Travis County returned to state court
A federal court’s decision is the latest development in a bitter pre-election brawl between Republican state officials and Democratic county leaders.
Obama, stumping for Harris in key battleground, charges Trump ‘will makes problems worse’
PITTSBURGH, PA – On the campaign trail for the first time for Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama repeatedly took aim at former President Trump on Thursday at a large rally in arguably the most important battleground state in the 2024 election. Pointing to the margin-of-error race between Harris and Trump with less than four weeks to go until Election Day and early voting already underway across much of the country, Obama acknowledged that “this election’s going to be tight, because there are a lot of Americans who are still struggling out there.” “What I cannot understand is how anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that’s good for you Pennsylvania,” the former president emphasized, to cheers from the crowd. Obama, referring to polls that indicate many Americans think the economy was better during Trump’s four years in the White House than under the current administration, claimed that “the reason some people think” times were better was “because it was my economy. We had 75 straight months of job growth that I handed over to him. It wasn’t something that he did.” TRUMP AND BIDEN TRADE FIRE AS POLITICAL STORM OVER HURRICANE RAGES “Just in case everybody has a hazy memory… he didn’t do nothing except those big tax cuts,” which Obama argued only benefited wealthy Americans and big businesses. Obama, who remains extremely popular with Democrats eight years after leaving the White House, argued that “there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself.” And he reiterated that “Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE 2024 ELECTION Obama jabbed at Trump for his constant attempts to “sell you stuff. Who does that? Selling you gold sneakers and a $100,000 watch and most recently a Trump bible…. you could not make this stuff up. If you saw it on Saturday Night Live, you’d say ‘well that’s going too far.’ Well, he’s doing that. It’s crazy.” And Obama stressed that “we don’t need a president who will make problems worse to just to make his own political circumstances better. We need a president who actually cares about solving problems and making your life better and that’s what Kamala Harris will do.” During the rally, Obama also discussed manhood and had a message for male voters who may be attracted to Trump’s perceived strength. “Real strength is about helping people who need it, and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and sons.” And he emphasized that “is what I want to see in a President of the United States of America.” Asked for a response, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News “If anyone cared about what Obama says, Hillary Clinton would’ve been president.” CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS The choice of Pittsburgh as Obama’s first stop was no surprise. It’s the largest city and Democratic stronghold in Pennsylvania, which is the biggest prize of the seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 White House victory over Trump and will likely determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 election. Obama isn’t the only former Democratic president to hit the campaign trail on behalf of the vice president. The Harris campaign announced that former President Bill Clinton, a longtime Arkansas governor who later won election and re-election to the White House, will stop Sunday and Monday in parts of Georgia before heading on to North Carolina later in the week for a bus tour. It’s part of Clinton’s efforts to court rural voters in the two crucial southeastern battleground states. Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, officially endorsed Harris for president in July, five days after President Biden ended his 2024 re-election in a blockbuster announcement. The former president made the case for Harris during a headlining address at the Democratic National Convention in August in his hometown of Chicago, saying she “is ready for the job.” Harris and Obama’s friendship goes back 20 years to when they met on the campaign trail while he was running for Senate in Illinois. And Harris was an early supporter of his 2008 presidential campaign and even knocked doors for him in Iowa ahead of the caucus, the Harris campaign noted. While Thursday’s rally was Obama’s first appearance on behalf on the presidential campaign trail, he’s helped raise $80 million for the Democratic nominee, including headlining a top-dollar fundraising last month in Los Angeles, according to Harris aides. Obama aides and the Harris campaign say the Pittsburg rally is the first of numerous coordinated “get out the vote” stops by the former president across the country in the closing stretch of the 2024 White House campaign. They add that Obama will also sign additional fundraising emails, record candidate-specific ads and robocalls for down-ballot races. Hours before Obama arrived in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey became the latest Democrat in a key Senate race that could determine whether the party holds on to its razor-thin majority in the chamber to release a new ad featuring the former president. Casey introduced the former president at the rally, and the former president repeatedly praised the senator. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Obama calls out ‘brothers’ apprehensive to vote for Harris: ‘You’re thinking of sitting out?’
During a pre-campaign-rally stop in Pittsburgh on Thursday, former President Barack Obama appeared to admonish Black Americans who have not been as fervent in their support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid as they were for his in 2008 and 2012. Obama stopped at a campaign office in the Steel City before taking the stage with Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., later in the afternoon. The prominent Democrat said he has noticed a difference in the excitement surrounding the current Democratic nominee, particularly among African-Americans. “We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama began. “Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers. So if you don’t mind — just for a second, I’ve got to speak to y’all and say that when you have a choice that is this clean: When on the one hand, you have somebody who grew up like you, went to college with you understands the struggles [and the] pain and joy that comes from those experiences…” PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO DEM GAINS According to several reports, Obama then went on to contrast that vision – presumably of Harris – to that of former President Trump. Appearing to continue to address Black Americans, Obama said the real estate mogul-turned-politician is someone who “has consistently shown disregard, not just for the communities, but for you as a person – And you are thinking about sitting out?” The 44th president went on to say many people apprehensive of Harris are coming up with “all kinds of reasons and excuses” to either sit home or support another candidate. “[P]art of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly… that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.” Reacting to the comments on Fox News Channel, “Jesse Watters Primetime” host Jesse Watters said Obama’s remarks are evidence Obama believes Harris “has officially plateaued” in popularity. “He was just caught saying this moments ago in Pittsburgh,” Watters said, before playing a clip of Obama. GOP GAINS VOTER ADVANTAGE IN KEY COUNTY NEAR BIDEN BIRTHPLACE In addition, former DeKalb County, Georgia Executive Vernon Jones – a longtime Democrat who joined the GOP in 2021 – reacted on X by saying Obama was being dispatched by “White liberals” to “Blackman-splain” why fellow African-Americans should vote for Harris. “No thanks, BO – Blacks had enough of you and Kamala Harris,” Jones said in part. Conservative commentator Benny Arthur Johnson called the comments “sickening.” “Obama descend[ed] into end-stage race hatred politics,” he said. For his part, President Biden also made waves when he similarly admonished Black Americans who were waffling ahead of the 2020 election. During a May 2020 interview from his Greenville, Del. home studio with the New York City radio program “The Breakfast Club,” Biden remarked that his wife Jill soon needed to use the same studio. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “You’ve got more questions?” he responded to host Charlamagne Tha God on the matter. “Well I tell you what – If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.” After the exchange went viral, Biden said he “shouldn’t have been such a wise guy” at the time. In response to Obama’s Pittsburgh visit writ large, Pennsylvania Team Trump spokesman Kush Desai said things can’t be going well for Democrats if they have to “fly in Barack Obama from his $12 million Martha’s Vineyard estate…” “While it’ll probably be a slightly less unhinged affair than what other Kamala surrogates are doing to move the needle, an Obama visit isn’t going to convince Pennsylvanians to vote for another four years of open borders, rising prices, and disaster at home and abroad.” In a statement following publication of Obama’s remarks, Desai said Obama should “stick with proselytizing America through his … Netflix grift instead of condescending Pennsylvanians to their faces.”
Alsobrooks backs court-packing as Hogan fights GOP, McConnell, Trump associations
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan faced off in a debate on Thursday night ahead of the Senate election in Maryland. In a particularly notable response, Alsobrooks aligned with some of the more progressive lawmakers in the Democrat Party, telling the moderator that she would support packing the Supreme Court. “I agree with either increasing the number of justices or term limits, yes,” she said. ‘OUT OF MONEY’: WHISTLEBLOWERS ALLEGE LACK OF SECRET SERVICE FUNDS, DELAYED PAYMENTS, TOP SENATOR REVEALS Hogan ridiculed this in his answer, criticizing both parties for “trying to change the rules so they can pack the court.” “What I did was find the most qualified judges, regardless of what party they were,” he said. Striking a tone similar to that of outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., Hogan added, “if you can’t find one person to cross over and vote for a Democratic judge or a Republican judge, I’m not going to support them.” Manchin had developed a reputation for bucking his party during his time as a Democrat. FOR WISCONSIN DEMS, A 2024 WIN IN THE BATTLEGROUND STATE IS YEARS IN THE MAKING Democrats are favored to win the Maryland Senate seat, but with Hogan’s popularity in the state and his distancing from GOP party leaders, the margins appear too close for comfort. Alsobrooks also backed scrapping the legislative filibuster to accomplish Democrat priorities such as mandating abortion access or loosening voting requirements. The county executive took several opportunities on Thursday to suggest Hogan’s election would give Republicans the Senate majority, regardless of whether he personally disagrees with them or would vote differently. However, top political handicappers favor Republicans to take the Senate majority, with expected wins in West Virginia and Montana, regardless of what happens in the Maryland race. She further questioned why Hogan would run as a Republican and not as an independent if he disagreed on so many key issues. SEE IT: WISCONSIN DAIRY FARMER SAYS ‘NO QUESTION’ TRUMP ADMIN WAS ‘MUCH BETTER’ THAN BIDEN-HARRIS But Hogan pushed back, explaining that he thinks Washington, D.C., needs lawmakers who will challenge their own party. “I’ve stood up to my party. I’ll stand up to either party,” he said. “I think we need mavericks in Washington that aren’t going to just do exactly what the party bosses tell them to do.” “I’m not a MAGA, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell person,” Hogan stressed. While the former governor emphasized that he would support the right to abortion and policies like the negotiated border bill that Republicans opposed, Alsobrooks claimed that such bills likely wouldn’t get votes in a Republican-controlled Senate. WISCONSIN SENATE RACE SHIFTS TO ‘TOSS UP’ BY HANDICAPPER AS TAMMY BALDWIN FIGHTS FOR RE-ELECTION The majority leader of the Senate notably controls the agenda in the upper chamber. In a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll late last month, Alsobrooks led Hogan 51% to 40% in the traditionally deep blue state. The survey was conducted between Sept. 19 and Sept. 23 and had a sample size of 1,012 registered voters. The margin of error is +/-3.5 percentage points. The Fox News Power Rankings rated the Maryland Senate race “Leans Democrat” during the same time period. Top political handicapper the Cook Political Report considers Maryland’s open seat to be “Likely Democrat.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Fox News Politics: Harris and the Hurricanes
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening… -Mayorkas refuses to answer questions on Afghan terror plot… -Dems fret Harris momentum has stalled… -GOP sees opportunity as Dems struggle with working class voters… Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bashed Vice President Kamala Harris for attempting to insert herself into the response to hurricanes Helene and Milton on Thursday. DeSantis and Harris have clashed in recent days after the governor declined to take a call from Harris regarding the hurricane response. He said Thursday that Harris has “no role” in the process and added that she had never attempted to call him during previous storms in Florida. “I am working with the president of the United States. I’m working with the director of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency]. We’ve been doing this now nonstop for over two weeks,” DeSantis said Thursday. “Although I’ve worked well with the president, she has never called Florida. She has never offered any support,” he said of Harris. “I don’t have time for those games. I don’t care about her campaign. Obviously, I’m not a supporter of hers, but she’s not, she has no role in this process. And so I’m working with the people I need to be working with.”…Read more BRIEFING BATTLE: Mayorkas refuses to answer questions on Afghan terror plot …Read more BACK TO CRIMEA: Biden blames Obama for Ukraine war: report …Read more ‘GLITCH’: Harris’ past comes back to haunt her after crime victim from her policy blasts resurfaced speech …Read more MORE NEEDED: FEMA has enough resources to address hurricanes but ‘will need additional funds,’ Mayorkas says …Read more POLITICAL STORM: Mayorkas rips ‘pernicious’ misinformation over FEMA relief …Read more ‘OUT OF MONEY’: Lack of Secret Service funds, delayed payments to Homeland Security teams revealed …Read more ‘KILL AND BURY’: Defund police Dem’s past comes back to haunt him in resurfaced police report …Read more ‘SCARED TO DEATH’: Dems fret Harris’ momentum has waned, urge campaign to be more aggressive …Read more TESTER TESTED: GOP upset in Montana race could flip the Senate …Read more LABOR’S LOVE LOST?: As Harris struggles with working class voters, GOP sees opportunity …Read more UNEXPECTED OPPOSITION: Battleground Dem warns traditional voting bloc being ‘split’ in 2024 …Read more NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: For Wisconsin Dems, a 2024 win in the battleground state is years in the making …Read more ‘BIDENVASION’: Kari Lake, Ruben Gallego spar over illegal immigration in AZ Senate debate …Read more ‘FOLLOW THE STUDENT’: Trump calls for federal education dollars to ‘follow the student,’ in push for universal school choice …Read more DECIDING FACTOR?: Trump holds lead over Harris in battleground states on this issue …Read more ‘CRICKETS’: Walz silent on support for eliminating Electoral College after Harris camp says it does not back proposal …Read more WHO’S MORE ACCESSIBLE?: Trump-Vance have done significantly more interviews than Harris-Walz …Read more ‘INHUMANE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL’: Death row inmates would be able to introduce newly discovered evidence in proposed bill …Read more SHOCKING DEATH TOLL: More Russian casualties in Ukraine war than all conflicts combined since WWII: US …Read more BATTLE CONTINUES: DACA saga drags on …Read more DEVOUT CATHOLIC: Ethel Kennedy, RFK’s widow, dead at 96 …Read more ‘LET HER SUFFER AND DIE’: Hospital that delayed Georgia woman’s emergency D&C blamed for death: lawyer …Read more Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Follow the Money: Understanding FEMA’s disaster budget in Hurricane Milton aftermath
It’s hard to understand the money when it comes to natural disasters. Does FEMA have enough to respond? Will residents get money after their car, home, business, town are destroyed by floodwaters? Will Congress approve additional tranches of disaster relief – both in the near-term and down the road. So, let’s follow the money. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WITH NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER FEMA’s coffers for “immediate needs” and the Disaster Relief Program (DRF) were nearly bone dry as Congress approved an interim spending bill to keep the government from shutting down in late September. Lawmakers awarded FEMA more than $20 billion to reload the DRF, which dwindled to around $1 billion and change in September. Congress restocked the DRF simply because it was prudent to do so. Lawmakers had to return to Washington in an emergency session in the late summer of 2005 to refurbish the DRF after Hurricane Katrina. Front-loading the DRF with $20 billion this year would be enough for FEMA to get through any natural disaster until Congress returned in mid-November. That’s why FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell signaled things were fine with money for FEMA. For now. “I have the funding and sufficient resources to support the ongoing responses to Hurricane Helene, as well as Hurricane Milton,” said Criswell. “We had thought that we would go into immediate needs funding in December or January. I need to assess that every day to see if I’m going to be able to wait that long.” This is why House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., resisted demands to recall Congress to address the storms. President Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre have insisted that Congress come back ahead of schedule. The House and Senate are on recess until after the elections in mid-November. Regardless of the severity of both storms, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Congress returns to replenish FEMA’s coffers. Yes. It’s good politics for the President, Mayorkas and lawmakers in the affected areas and others to implore Congressional leaders to summon the House and Senate back to Washington. It gives the illusion of exhausting all options. Plus, if Johnson or Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., don’t call people back, those from the opposite party can suggest that they aren’t responsive or taking the damage as seriously as they should. Moreover, it’s probably not even necessary for Congress to come back into session until November 12th. The DRF is now well stocked. Only something as catastrophic as thermonuclear war could draw down the DRF to zero before next month. So draining the fund that fast – prompting Congressional action – is not likely. When lawmakers returned in a dramatic, emergency, witching-hour session in 2005 to replenish money for FEMA in the wake of Katrina, it did so with a skeleton crew. Only a few lawmakers showed up. Then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., approved the bill on the floor after a few quick remarks and “unanimous consent.” HOW US GOVERNMENT WILL DOLE OUT AID TO VICTIMS OF HURRICANES MILTON, HELENE There are three methods for the House and Senate to vote. A roll call vote where each Member is recorded as yea or nay. A “voice vote.” That’s where those in favor yell “aye” and those opposed shout “nay.” The louder side (supposedly) prevails. Then there is “unanimous consent.” That’s where a bill comes to the floor and a Member simply asks to pass a bill (more often in the Senate). If all Members agree, the bill is passed. But if there is a single objection, everything stops. The bill is dead. Approving an emergency storm relief bill with a handful of people may have worked right after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But American politics now occupies a very different galaxy than the one 19 years ago. In late March 2020, Congress attempted to approve a staggering $2.3 trillion relief package as the COVID-19 pandemic burned across the planet. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution says that a “Majority” of the House and Senate “shall constitute a Quorum to do Business.” But the House and Senate conduct business all the time without a proper quorum. It’s usually not a problem so long as no one presses the issue. When the COVID bill hit the House floor, leaders insisted on social distancing. The aim was to approve the bill via unanimous consent or a voice vote. A formal roll call would require that all 435 House members come to the floor at once. Not an optimal scenario in the initial, dangerous days of the pandemic. However, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wanted to “make a point of order” that the House lacked a quorum and demand a roll call vote. Even former President Trump torched Massie, tweeting that the Kentucky Republican was “grandstanding” and should be evicted from the GOP. Former Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., presided over the vote. He quickly counted Members present. Both the majority and minority devised a way to bring a large number of Members into the House chamber to represent a quorum. Some materialized, spread out on the floor. Others appeared on the balcony of the then-closed public viewing gallery. For Brown, that was enough. The quorum was present. He gaveled the bill to passage without a roll call vote. In today’s toxified atmosphere, it’s hard to believe that lawmakers from both sides wouldn’t protest if leaders try to summon the House and Senate back to Washington for an emergency vote, ala, Katrina. Even though it’s disaster aid, some will carp about the extra spending. They might accuse leaders of trying to ram through the measure without enough vetting. The 2020 coronavirus package vote hints at potential problems unless all lawmakers are recalled to debate and vote on emergency spending. FORMER NIH OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF MAKING EMAILS ‘DISAPPEAR’ PLEADS FIFTH TO COVID SUBCOMMITTEE Then there is the question of offsets. Republicans representing the path of both storms certainly want the federal government
Dem strategists fret Harris ‘sugar high’ is over: ‘If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention’
Democratic strategists are calling on the Harris campaign to get more aggressive amid concerns her early momentum, spurred largely by Harris’ debate performance and the Democratic National Convention, has waned due to a number of factors. “I’m scared to death,” Democratic strategist James Carville said Wednesday. “Now that the sugar high is gone, people have realized what Kamala Harris has said from the start, which is that she is the underdog,” Anthony Coley, a former Biden and Obama staffer turned political consultant, told The Hill. “If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention,” former Harris communications director Jamal Simmons added. KAMALA HARRIS’ SUPPORT WITH ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN MICHIGAN IS ‘TENUOUS’: DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST Meanwhile, David Axelrod, widely regarded as the political mastermind behind former President Obama’s 2008 victory, recognized that “Harris had a great launch, right through the convention and the debate,” but he acknowledged “the race has plateaued.” Carville’s remarks that he is “scared to death” about Nov. 5, came during an interview Wednesday with MSNBC’s Ari Melber. Carville estimated that with Hurricane Milton dominating the news cycle, Harris only has about 20 days to amplify her messaging. JAMES CARVILLE SAYS DEMOCRATS TALK ABOUT JANUARY 6 AND 2020 ELECTION TOO MUCH, SHOULD MOVE ON An anonymous Democratic strategist told The Hill that Harris is still “fine-tuning her message” way too close to Election Day. “We are in the ‘make the sale’ phase of the campaign now. We’re not still tweaking the message,” the strategist pointed out. Some of the criticism from Democratic strategists also included suggestions the Harris campaign get more aggressive. “They need to be sharp. They need to be aggressive. They need to stop answering questions and start asking questions,” Carville insisted Wednesday. “I think she and the whole campaign need to be much more aggressive and much less passive than they are.” “In these campaigns, every time you clear a bar, the bar gets raised,” added Axelrod. “You have to lift your game and adjust your strategy.” With Election Day rapidly approaching, polling in three critical battleground states show former President Trump making gains, but the race still remains a toss-up between the two candidates. According to polling from Quinnipiac University, Harris is maintaining a three-point advantage over Trump in battleground Pennsylvania. However, that is a drop from Harris’ six-point lead in Quinnipiac’s September polling of Pennsylvania voters. TRUMP HAS 9-POINT LEAD ON MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE TO VOTERS: POLL Quinnipiac polling in Michigan shows Trump with a three-point edge, and it shows him with a two-point advantage in Wisconsin. Quinnipiac’s Michigan polling last month had Harris leading by five points, while its Wisconsin polling had her at a one-point advantage over Trump. “That was then, this is now,” Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac, said. “The Harris post-debate starburst dims to a glow as Harris enters the last weeks slipping slightly in the Rust Belt.”
Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller subpoenaed to testify in his former political consultant’s criminal trial
Todd Smith was indicted in 2022 on felony charges of theft and commercial bribery related to taking money in exchange for hemp licenses that are issued by Miller’s office.
Political storm: On Trump ‘onslaught of lies,’ Biden urges former president to ‘get a life man’
There’s no let up in the war of words between President Biden and former President Trump over the federal government’s response to back-to-back devastating hurricanes that slammed into the southeast. After Trump continued to charge that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been slow and ineffective in steering the government’s storm efforts, the president once again fired back. Biden told reporters on Thursday that Trump needed to “get a life man, help these people.” And he argued that “the public will hold him [Trump] accountable” for making false claims regarding the capabilities of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to assist storm victims. The former president’s son, Eric Trump, posted on X on Wednesday that the family has opened up one of its Florida hotels to house over 200 linemen who are helping in the storm’s aftermath. Trump has also launched a GoFundMe campaign for victims of Hurricane Helene in Georgia, which has raised more than $7 million so far. BACK-TO-BACK HURRICANES ROCK PRESIDENTIAL RACE The president spoke as millions in Florida remained without power after Hurricane Milton tore a path of destruction across the central and northern parts of the state late Wednesday into Thursday. Meanwhile, cleanup and recovery efforts continue across the southeast, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene nearly two weeks ago. With less than four weeks to go until Election Day in November, Harris and Trump are locked in a narrow margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election, the politics of federal disaster relief are again front and center on the campaign trail. CLICK HERE FOR UP-TO-DATE FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE STORMS “Vice President Harris and I have been in constant contact with the state and local officials. We’re offering everything they need,” Biden emphasized on Thursday. Among those the president spoke with was Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. While DeSantis and Harris have traded verbal fire this week over whether he ignored hurricane-related calls from her, the governor and Biden have worked together on storm response and relief efforts. “I spoke with the president this morning,” DeSantis said during one of his numerous briefings on Thursday. “He said he wants to be helpful. And so if we have a request, he said, send them his way, and he wants to help us get the job done. So I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state and local governments and work together to put the people first.” Despite those comments and others from DeSantis as well as other leading Republican officeholders in the storm-struck southeast, Trump has continuously slammed Biden and Harris. DESANTIS AND HARRIS TRADE FIRE OVER HURRICANE CALL “THE WORST RESPONSE TO A STORM OR HURRICANE DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY,” Trump claimed in a social media post on Tuesday. “The worst hurricane response since Katrina,” the former president charged on Wednesday as he pointed to the much-maligned initial federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which was heavily criticized for being slow and ineffective. Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in battleground Pennsylvania, lobbed another political bomb at Harris, arguing that “She just led the worst rescue operation in history in North Carolina…the worst ever, they say.” And the former president once again made false claims that FEMA diverted money intended for disaster relief and spent it on undocumented migrants in the U.S. as he turned up the volume on his inflammatory rhetoric over the combustible issue of illegal immigration. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS WEATHER UPDATES ON HURRICANE MILTON “You know where they gave the money to: illegal immigrants coming,” Trump said as the crowd of MAGA supporters loudly booed. Hours later, Biden pushed back, accusing the Republican presidential nominee of leading an “onslaught of lies.” Biden charged that the rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans was “beyond ridiculous” and that “it’s got to stop.” But on Thursday at a campaign event in Michigan, Trump kept up the attacks. He praised southern Republican governors for doing a “fantastic job” reacting to the storms and argued that “the federal government, on the other hand, has not done what you’re supposed to be doing, in particular, with respect to North Carolina. They’ve let those people suffer unjustly, unjustly.” Harris, in a Wednesday interview with the Weather Channel, also chided Trump. “This is not a time for us to just point fingers at each other as Americans,” the vice president said. “Anybody who considers themselves to be a leader should really be in the business right now of giving people a sense of confidence that we’re all working together and that we have the resources and the ability to work together on their behalf.” Fox News’ Kirill Clark and Matteo Cina contributed to this report Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.