Fox News Politics: One Year Since October 7th Attacks
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… – Trump-Vance ticket has done combined 65 interviews since August compared to 26 for Harris-Walz –SCOTUS kicks off historic term under scrutiny amid ethics code debate – Women for Trump, Goya team up to provide relief to Hurricane Helene victims in Georgia Anti-Israel protesters set up an encampment outside the home of a Jewish Democratic House member on the eve of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, the congressman revealed on social media. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, posted on X overnight announcing that a group of people with their faces covered had congregated outside his house, prompting his family to get police escorts in order to exit and enter their home. “A group of masked anti-Israel protesters assembled outside my home early Sunday morning and remained through the evening, forcing police to escort my family in and out of our house for safety,” the lawmaker declared in a post that included a photo of the group. “The protesters refuse to leave, setting up tents, cots, and sleeping bags in their encampment in the road, and are spending the night harassing my family outside our home. It’s not clear if or when they will leave,” he added in another tweet…Read more ‘WE’VE BEEN FAILED’: American father of Hamas hostage Itay Chen pushes US, Israel on ‘Plan B’ as negotiations falter…Read more LASTING TRAUMA: One-year anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks arrives with lasting trauma for Israelis, American Jews…Read more ‘BRING THEM HOME’: Vance gives full-throated support for Israel, has choice words for Biden-Harris at Oct 7 memorial rally…Read more TEXAS LAW UPHELD: Supreme Court denies Biden administration appeal over federal emergency abortion requirement in Texas…Read more FIRST ON FOX: Kamala Harris courts disillusioned Arab Americans over Jewish groups, records show…Read more 1 YEAR LATER: Senate Republicans mark Oct 7 attack 1 year out as Israel-Hamas war continues…Read more GEORGIA ON HIS MIND: Georgia GOP chair shares 2-pronged election strategy as Trump works to win back Peach State…Read more NJ SENATE RACE: GOP New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw nearly passes out during debate…Read more THE EARLY VOTING BEGINS: Early voting begins in California, Texas, 5 other states…Read more TRUMP GAINING GROUND: New poll shows who Hispanics are backing in southwest swing states…Read more ‘RADICAL AS THEY COME’: Battleground Senate candidate unloads on ‘radical’ Dem opponent for disparaging Trump voters…Read more CHARGED UP: Michigan Dem launches anti-EV ad in bid for Senate race after voting against a bipartisan pushback on mandates…Read more ‘DOUBLE WHAMMY’: Lake rips Biden-Harris ‘double whammy’ policies affecting Arizonans : ‘Driven us over the cliff’…Read more ‘HAVEN’T DONE THAT MUCH’: ‘We haven’t done that much’: Former Estonia head says US fears of escalation with Putin are unwarranted…Read more Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
MAGA candidate vying to flip Virginia Senate seat red stands firm on controversial military comments
Republican candidate Hung Cao, running for the Virginia Senate seat currently held by Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, is confident he can turn Virginia red from purple. He’s also doubling down on his controversial comments made during last week’s debate about U.S. military personnel “who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds” in a bid against progressive social training in the military. Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran endorsed by former President Trump, told Fox News Digital in an interview, “It’s about warriors that are just going to do anything to win, and those are the people we need.” VIRGINIA SENATE DEBATE: CLINTON’S EX-RUNNING MATE KAINE AND GOP CHALLENGER CAO SPAR ON IMMIGRATION AND DEI IN THE MILITARY “And that’s what I mean by rip out your own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. That’s a true warrior, whether it’s a alpha male or alpha female, but not some cross-dressing … drag queen,” he said. “That’s not what we need in the military. We need strong men and women that are willing to put their lives online to fight for this country.” During last week’s debate against Kaine, Cao criticized the military’s collective failure to recently meet recruiting goals. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than 30% of Americans aged 17 to 24 were eligible to serve in the military, and this number has declined even more since then. “There’s only so many hours in the day, and there’s so much money. And when you’re spending all your money and time to look at all these woke issues, you’re taking away from time to train for war,” Cao said. VIRGINIA FAA CONTRACTOR ALLEGEDLY SPIED FOR IRAN, SHARED PRIVATE INFO ON US AIRPORTS, ENERGY INDUSTRY: DOJ When it comes to flipping Virginia’s Senate seat, Cao is confident he can achieve it despite the Cook Political Report designating the seat as solid blue. Cao argued that the Cook report is wrong, noting how he reduced Biden’s 19% margin in Northern Virginia to 6% in 2022. He highlighted that despite Trump losing Virginia by 10 points in 2010, Republicans won all statewide races in 2021 and gained a seat in 2022. In 2023, more Republicans voted than Democrats despite Democrat gerrymandering efforts. “And so, you know, having moved north Virginia the way I did, and if the south comes out, we’re going to win this race,” he said. VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD TO PAY ‘WRONGFULLY FIRED’ TEACHER WHO REFUSED TO USE STUDENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUNS Trump has endorsed Cao, and political scientists say his path to victory is narrow, given Virginia’s moderate electorate, aversion to Trump in 2020 and Kaine’s salience with voters, according to the Associated Press. Kaine won his last race in 2018 by 16 percentage points, although he said he was preparing for a tough race this year. The most recent Republican from Virginia to hold a Senate seat was the late John Warner, a centrist with an independent streak who last won in 2002. Fox News’ Daniel Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lawsuit accuses state department, DOJ of stonewalling FOIA requests regarding climate office personnel
FIRST ON FOX: The State Department is facing heightened pressure to disclose information regarding its climate office staff members after a new lawsuit accuses them of stonewalling. Power the Future (PTF), an energy watchdog group, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for an unredacted list of former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry’s staff in January. SPEC has an estimated $13.9 million annual budget from the State Department with approval for 45 personnel, Fox News Digital previously reported, but Kerry has remained quiet about his climate staff over the years. PTF filed a lawsuit against the State Department in February after reportedly experiencing a system of delays in the disclosure of the names and job titles of Kerry’s staff, which they said were highly redacted in its initial release. As of September, the department has reportedly not disclosed all the members of the climate office, prompting PTF to take their action a step further, Fox News Digital has learned. JOHN KERRY CALLS THE FIRST AMENDMENT A ‘MAJOR BLOCK’ TO STOPPING ‘DISINFORMATION’ A new PTF complaint, filed on Oct. 3, claims that the Biden administration’s “climate” operation at SPEC is displaying a “clear pattern and practice” of delayed FOIA responses. The lawsuit, one of 14 filed by PTF against the State Department, also names the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on claims that they are keeping information regarding SPEC’s operations from the public. “For years, Power The Future has sought legitimate information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on John Kerry’s Climate Office, its budget, staff, mission, and outside coordination, and for years we have been told, ‘No,’” Daniel Tuner, Founder & Executive Director of PTF, told Fox News Digital. FORMER JOHN KERRY STAFFER ARRESTED ON NANTUCKET FOR ALLEGEDLY WRITING $1.5M BAD CHECK The suit also claims that the agency is going against congressional standards for FOIA response times. “Despite previous lawsuits, this administration continues to coordinate a blockade keeping any information about this secret office from reaching the public, especially before the November election,” Turner said. “John Kerry is not above the law, and the weaponization of federal agencies turning them into the political machine demonstrates a level of corruption typical of the green movement but deeply disturbing in our federal government.” The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the office of the SPEC regarding potential conflict of interests between the office’s staff members and “leftist environmental groups.” Kerry stepped down as Biden’s climate envoy in January and was replaced by John Podesta. Efforts to reach the State Department, the DOJ, the SPEC and the federal U.S. Attorney for D.C. were unsuccessful.
Kamala Harris courts disillusioned Arab Americans over Jewish groups, records show
Vice President Kamala Harris appears to prioritize winning back Arab American and Muslim voters who were dejected by President Joe Biden’s handling of war in the Middle East over courting the Jewish voter. That’s according to an internal review of her calendar meetups with both groups since becoming the Democratic nominee for president. Harris met with Arab American advocates ahead of a campaign event in Flint, Michigan, on Friday. That followed a meeting with activists with the Pro-Palestinian Uncommitted Movement, which has declined to endorse her, in Michigan in July. Her public schedule hasn’t included meetings with Jewish groups since meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu privately in July, after she declined to preside over his joint address to Congress. In August, her campaign nominated Ilan Goldenberg as its liaison to the Jewish community, and on Aug. 15, Harris sent campaign officials to meet with Jewish leaders in Michigan. In September, she called the parents of the late Hersch Goldberg-Polin, the American hostage slain by Hamas. Fox News Digital could not find a record of any other face-to-face Jewish outreach by Harris. Wa’el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action, told CNN that Harris had told the Arab group on Friday “that she also wants the war to end and that she will do all she can to work in this regard.” The Arab Americans told her she needed “to show distance between how she would govern on this matter with the current administration policies, which we don’t agree with.” HARRIS REFUSES TO CALL NETANYAHU A ‘CLOSE ALLY’ ONE YEAR AFTER OCTOBER 7 Michigan, which Biden narrowly won in 2020, is a crucial battleground state this election. It has the second-highest population of Arab American residents, who make up around 3% of its population. On the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, former President Donald Trump will speak to Jewish community leaders at one of his Florida resorts in Doral. Harris will briefly speak to journalists and plant a pomegranate tree on the grounds of the Vice President’s Residence in honor of those killed a year ago. One year on from the outbreak of war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel is now entrenched in war on other fronts too. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recently launched a ground offensive in Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, and last week missiles rained down on Tel Aviv — though most were intercepted — from Iran. Jewish Americans tend to vote Democratic — in 2020, Biden won 69% of their vote. Trump won 30%. Harris’ focus on Arab American outreach could in part be due to shifting polling within the community and an aggressive outreach from the Trump campaign to capitalize on that. Arab Americans also historically favor Democrats — but new polling suggests that could change. Of likely voters in the community, Arab Americans favor Trump over Harris 46% to 42%, according to new polling by the Arab American Institute. Trump has been airing ads aimed at Arab Americans in Michigan, and his former director of national intelligence Ric Grenell and his daughter Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law Massad Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman, have been leading his outreach to the community. HARRIS WON’T SAY WHETHER BIDEN ADMIN HAS ANY ‘SWAY’ OVER NETANYAHU “His outreach now is much better, much different than it was in 2016 and 2020,” Adel Ayoub, leader of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told Fox News Digital of Trump. Biden won 60% of the Arab American vote in 2020, but support from that community has cratered since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. The National Uncommitted movement launched a campaign calling on voters to cast uncommitted ballots in swing state primaries to send a message to Democrats, and more than a million did so. Harris spoke with leaders of the Uncommitted Movement in August. That same month, her campaign manager met with Arab and Muslim leaders. Trump has blamed Harris and Biden for loosening sanctions on Iran, thus emboldening Iran’s proxies to carry out the attack last year. Trump has repeatedly said that Jewish voters who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined” and that if he loses the Nov. 5 election, “the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that.”
Vance gives full-throated support for Israel, has choice words for Biden-Harris at Oct 7 memorial rally
Sen. JD Vance blasted the Biden-Harris administration on Monday for not doing enough to bring home the hostages that Hamas took from Israel during the deadly Oct. 7 attack one year ago. Vance, R-Ohio, spoke during the Philos Project’s Memorial Rally and March on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., briefly taking aim at President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “I’m going to get a little political here. It is disgraceful that we have an American president and vice president who haven’t done a thing,” Vance said. “Vice President Harris, our message is, ‘Bring them home.’ Use your authority to help bring them home. We can do it. We just need real leadership.” Iran-backed Hamas terrorists launched a massacre against Israel in the Oct. 7 attack last year, killing about 1,200 people, including 46 U.S. citizens, and taking about 250 hostages. A year later, about 100 people, including several Americans, remain in Hamas captivity, as U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a cease-fire and hostage release deal have sputtered out. ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS SET UP ENCAMPMENT OUTSIDE JEWISH DEM REP’S HOME ON EVE OF OCT 7 HAMAS ATTACK ANNIVERSARY The attack sparked a war in Gaza, where Israel has moved to eliminate Hamas and return those taken hostage. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians. Harris came under fire Sunday for a lengthy “word salad” answer in which she appeared unable to fully commit to Israel during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.” US ON ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ‘VIOLENT EXTREMIST ACTIVITY’ ON AMERICANS ONE YEAR AFTER OCT. 7 Meanwhile, Vance gave full-throated support for Israel, saying that former President Trump will make sure Israel has the right to protect itself and that the hostages are returned home. “I speak for Donald Trump and saying that when he is president, America will protect our American Jewish brothers and sisters. We will stop funding anti-American and anti-Jewish radicals. And we are going to bring home American hostages wherever they’re held and whoever is holding them,” he said. “We want to give Israel the right and the ability to finish what Hamas started. Israel didn’t start this. Hamas did. But Israel is going to finish it,” Vance continued.
Anti-Israel agitators set up encampment outside Jewish Dem rep’s home on eve of Oct 7 Hamas attack anniversary
Anti-Israel protesters set up an encampment outside the home of a Jewish Democratic House member on the eve of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, the congressman revealed on social media. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, posted on X throughout the evening of Oct. 6, announcing that a group of people with their faces covered congregated outside his house, prompting his family to get police escorts in order to exit and enter their home. “A group of masked anti-Israel protesters assembled outside my home early Sunday morning and remained through the evening, forcing police to escort my family in and out of our house for safety,” the lawmaker declared in a post that included a photo of the group. “The protesters refuse to leave, setting up tents, cots, and sleeping bags in their encampment in the road, and are spending the night harassing my family outside our home. It’s not clear if or when they will leave,” he added in another tweet. Landsman’s communications director told Fox News Digital via email that as of Monday morning, the individuals were still outside the congressman’s home in Cincinnati. NEW DEMS ARE LASER-FOCUSED ON FIGHTING CRIME Landsman noted that Monday marks the grim anniversary of the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack against Israel in which Hamas committed atrocities. “On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the October 7th terror attacks, when Jews were brutally murdered and kidnapped, these people came to the home of a Jewish family at night, dressed in all black and fully masked,” the congressman said in a statement. GOP HOUSE CANDIDATE FIRES BACK AFTER DEM OPPONENT ECHOES ‘WEIRD’ ATTACK LINE AGAINST JD VANCE “Today, my daughter and I will be attending a service to bear witness to the atrocious terror attacks of October 7th. Meanwhile, these people will be outside of my house, in an attempt to intimidate my Jewish family every time we try to leave our home,” he continued. “They’ve done this to my staff and me for nearly a year, and now they’re doing it to my family and neighbors. I don’t think they have any boundaries at this point. Our family hopes they leave soon and protest in a more appropriate and less intrusive manner. We’re grateful to the Cincinnati Police Department for their ongoing efforts and work to keep us all safe,” the lawmaker said in the statement. DEM REP ‘CLOSER AND CLOSER’ TO URGING BIDEN TO DROP OUT, WOULD BACK HARRIS NOMINATION OR OPEN CONVENTION Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., decried the protest and urged his colleagues to do the same. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “On the anniversary of the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, this is unacceptable intimidation of a Jewish member of Congress and his family,” Goldman wrote on X. “I call on all of my colleagues to condemn this conduct. This has no place in America,”
U.S. Supreme Court lets stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate Texas ban
In asking for a review, the Biden administration pointed to the Supreme Court’s action in an Idaho case that narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume.
Georgia GOP chair shares 2-pronged election strategy as Trump works to win back Peach State
ATLANTA – Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon is “cautiously optimistic” that Republicans can win back the Peach State after it emerged as a critical battleground in the previous presidential race. The path to victory lies in two key blocs – early voters, and those who lean Republican but are largely apathetic to the process overall – McKoon indicated in an interview with Fox News Digital. “We feel good about things here in Georgia,” the former state senator said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do over the next month or so, but we feel like we’re in position to win.” KAMALA HARRIS’ SUPPORT WITH ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN MICHIGAN IS ‘TENUOUS’: DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST He pointed to some recent surveys that show former President Trump with a slight edge over Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as early figures on absentee voting. Early and absentee voters were key to President Biden’s victory nationwide in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic largely forced Americans to stay home. In Georgia, parts of which were ravaged by Hurricane Helene just over a week ago, early and absentee voters may prove just as critical this year. Biden beat Trump in the Peach State by roughly 12,000 votes in 2020. “One very important lesson is the importance of early voting. We have three weeks of in-person early voting here in Georgia. Republicans traditionally have not done a whole lot to target our voters to get them out early – to make a plan and go ahead and bank those votes,” McKoon said. “As a result, we had to spend an enormous amount of time and resources trying to move the vast majority of our voters to the polls on Election Day.” TRUMP SAYS ISRAEL SHOULD HIT IRAN’S NUCLEAR FACILITIES, SLAMMING BIDEN’S RESPONSE Motivating many of those likely voters to turn out early, McKoon explained, frees up state party resources “to focus on low-propensity voters who are likely to vote for President Trump, if we just get them to the polls.” “But of course, those voters need to be touched multiple times. And so, early voting plays a huge role in our overall strategy,” McKoon said. When asked how low-propensity voters could be reached, the Republican official explained it’s more a matter of outreach than identification. MORGAN WALLEN DONATES TO HURRICANE HELENE RELIEF, SAYS FAMILY IS ‘SAFE’ AMID DEVASTATING FLOODS “Of course, all of that requires resources. That requires money – put mail in the mailbox, ads on television, telephone calls to their home, knocking on their door. We’re trying to do all of those things,” McKoon said. Another factor of the Trump campaign’s nationwide outreach – and in Georgia, in particular – is convincing Black male voters to vote Republican. Trump allies have said that securing roughly 20% of support from Black men across the U.S. could be critical to swaying the election in his favor. A recent Howard University public opinion poll found that roughly one in five Black men under age 50 who are living in battleground states support Trump. “You see the work that’s being done, you know, Black Voices for Trump, a lot of the other movements, grassroots movements, around the state. Direct voter contact, again, is really king in this area. But no one’s better at that than President Trump himself,” McKoon said. “That’s really about economic anxiety and the feeling that this administration, with its open borders policies, are making it even more difficult for Black voters to get ahead in this country.” Georgia’s early voting period runs from Oct. 15 through Nov. 1.
Michigan Dem launches anti-EV ad in bid for Senate race after voting against a bipartisan pushback on mandates
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is slamming electric vehicle mandates in her bid for a swing state Senate seat, despite recently voting against a bill aiming to block them. The Democratic congresswoman, who is running for Michigan’s open Senate seat this cycle, released a new ad against mandating electric vehicle sales. “No one should tell us what to buy, and no one is gonna mandate anything,” Slotkin says in the ad, while “no electric car mandates” is seen written on the screen. Slotkin also revealed that there are no EV charging stations near where she lives in Michigan, and that she does not own an electric car herself. HOUSE PASSES BILL BLOCKING BIDEN ADMIN ATTEMPT TO REQUIRE TWO-THIRDS OF NEW CARS TO BE ELECTRIC WITHIN YEARS “I live on a dirt road, nowhere near a charging station, so I don’t own an electric car,” Slotkin says in the new ad. “What you drive is your call, no one else’s.” Despite speaking out against EV mandates, Slotkin recently voted against legislation to block Biden administration mandates on new car sales. THE BIDEN-HARRIS EV MANDATES WILL HURT WORKERS IN STATES LIKE MICHIGAN: TUDOR DIXON The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule in March under the Clean Air Act to set new emissions standards that would require up to two-thirds of new cars sold to be electric vehicles by 2032. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers passed the Congressional Review Act, introduced by GOP Michigan Rep. John James, in September to block the new rule from being enacted. The campaign for Slotkin’s Republican opponent, Rep. Mike Rogers, responded to the recent ad. “Slotkin voted three times, including last month, to let the EPA and liberal states ban gas cars that are made in Michigan, she signed a secret agreement to help a Chinese corporation take Michigan auto jobs, and fully backs Harris’ job-destroying EV mandates,” Rogers for Senate Communications Director Chris Gustafson, told Fox. “Just like an EV, no one is buying her lies.” Slotkin, however, voted against its passing – breaking with eight Democrats who voted in favor of the bill. “Elissa Slotkin is a pathological liar who has lied to Michigan voters about where she lives, being a small business owner and a farmer,” NRSC Spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said in a statement. “Now, Slotkin is trying to claim she doesn’t support EV mandates after repeatedly voting to ban gas cars.” Fox News Digital reached out to Slotkin for comment but did not hear back by press time.
Women for Trump, Goya team up to provide relief to Hurricane Helene victims in Georgia
Several high-profile volunteers with the group Women for Trump flew to Georgia to provide relief for victims of Hurricane Helene in the group’s first mission before they crisscross the country to support communities in need. RNC co-chair Lara Trump, former DNC vice chair and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former Georgia GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler, former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick, and former ESPN anchor Sage Steele launched their “Save America” tour on Thursday in Austell, Georgia. TRUMP SLAMS THE BIDEN ADMIN’S RESPONSE TO HURRICANE HELENE The group traveled to Austell via commercial air. Their travel was paid for by the Trump campaign, the group said. The group donated thousands of dollars of supplies to Sweetwater Mission – a social services organization in Austell that helps to prevent hunger and homelessness – with the assistance of Goya Cares. “They put us on the map. We got a call from a woman in New Mexico wanting to donate to us. And we said, ‘How did you know about us?’ This woman was watching the rally with President Trump and the chyron on the screen read that Lara Trump was going to be visiting Sweetwater Mission with Goya Foods,” Sweetwater Mission executive director Pat Soden said to Lara Trump. “You’ve put us on the map, and I can’t thank you enough.” Lara Trump said, in turn, Women for Trump is “incredibly grateful for Goya Cares,” because they have “allowed us to donate thousands of pounds of non-perishable food for the people of this community.” “We’re here in the wake of Hurricane Helene and honored to be able to give back,” Lara Trump said. “We’ve also been able to secure water, blankets, diapers, and items to meet the immediate needs of those impacted by Hurricane Helene.” But Lara Trump said this is “just the beginning.” BIDEN, HARRIS INSPECT DAMAGE IN HURRICANE-RAVAGED SOUTHEAST IN WAKE OF TRUMP VISIT “We’re kicking off our Women for Trump tour in Georgia, and we’ll be headed all over the country supporting communities across this great country,” Trump said. Reflecting on the visit, Gabbard told Fox News Digital that it was a “privilege to shine a light on the incredibly inspiring impact local Georgia nonprofits like Sweetwater Mission are having on those who need help the most.” “I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to join Lara Trump, Sage Steele, Danica Patrick and many volunteers to pitch in and thank the hardworking staff and volunteers, especially during a time of great hardship and desperate need in the wake of Hurricane Helene,” Gabbard said. Hurricane Helene killed at least 232 people as the storm tore through the southeast. Hundreds more are still unaccounted for from the deadliest mainland U.S. hurricane since Katrina. Women for Trump are expected to travel across the country, with each visit focused on philanthropic efforts to support communities in need.