‘Get a life’: Hurricane Milton whips up US election storm

Hurricane Milton has crashed into the US presidential election, with President Joe Biden telling ­Donald Trump to ‘get a life’.

US President Joe Biden speaks in Washington about the impact of Hurricane Milton. Picture: AFP

Hurricane Milton has crashed into the US presidential election, with President Joe Biden telling ­Donald Trump to “get a life” and Kamala Harris rebuking her election rival for spreading misinformation.

As Florida reeled from Milton and the recent Hurricane Helene, a political battle erupted over claims that Mr Trump and the ­Republicans were spreading misinformation about the White House response to the two storms.

Mr Biden and Ms Harris have sought to show they are in control of the situation, and accused the former president of putting survivors in danger.

The 81-year-old President testily said, “Are you kidding me?” when asked after a hurricane briefing on Friday if he had spoken to Mr Trump, the man he beat in the 2020 election, to tell him to stop the misinformation.

Mr Biden then stopped, looked directly into a 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 shot on his way out, saying that “the public will hold him accountable” at the ballot box in November.

Mr Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and handed the baton to his Vice-President after a disastrous debate against Mr Trump, but is keenly aware the way his ­administration handles the hurricane response could weigh on her election chances.

Ms Harris also attacked the former president, after he spoke about wind turbines in a campaign speech where he mocked its proponents for thinking it “sounds so wonderful”. “Yesterday, I met with members of the federal team that is working around the clock to ­deliver relief to Americans affected by Helene and Milton,” Ms Harris said while on the campaign trail in Nevada.

“Meanwhile, Donald Trump spread lies and educated us about the sound of the wind.”

Far from fostering national unity in the face of disaster, the hurricanes have fuelled US political divisions less than four weeks before a bitterly fought election.

“Hopefully on January 20, you’re going to have somebody who’s really going to help you,” Mr Trump said in a video message on Thursday to the people of Florida, where he lives, in a reference to the date the next president will be sworn into office.

Mr Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Ms Harris and Mr Biden, slamming them for being out of Washington when Helene hit two weeks ago and then falsely claiming the White House had not been in contact with the governors of affected states. Mr Biden ­accused Mr Trump of an “onslaught of lies” including that money for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was being diverted to ­migrants; that flood-hit property is confiscated; and that storm victims receive only $US750 ($1100) in compensation.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said hurricane recovery workers were now receiving threats online. “We are seeing horrific hate speech,” Mr Mayorkas told a White House briefing, adding that it was a ­“motivating force for people to do harm, and it has got to stop”.

As Milton left a trail of devastation across Florida and at least 10 people dead, with millions without power, the Republican Governor and former presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis further stirred things up over claims that he’d refused to take calls from Ms Harris.

“What she’s doing is she’s trying to inject herself into this ­because of her political campaign,” said Mr DeSantis, adding that he “didn’t even know she was trying to reach me”. He added: “I don’t have time for those games. I don’t care about her campaign.”

Mr Biden said Mr DeSantis had been “very gracious” when they spoke. But he also launched into another condemnation of hurricane misinformation – especially conspiracy theories spread by pro-Trump Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene that the hurricanes were geo-engineered. “It’s so stupid,” he said. “It’s got to stop.”

AFP