At a campaign stop in Swannanoa on Monday afternoon, Former President Donald Trump surveyed the damage from Hurricane Helene and pledged his support to rebuild the region and “slash through every bureaucratic barrier” that interferes with recovery.
Trump said he visited western North Carolina to show his support for the people, towns, bridges and businesses destroyed by Helene, but the trip caused challenges for some local drivers on stretches of I-26, I-40 and I-240.
Road blockades to secure the presidential candidate’s entrance to the desolated stretch of Highway 70 caused traffic gridlock in some parts of the town.
Trump stepped out of his black motorcade, amidst piles of rubble, broken trees and washed out cars to speak to a crowd of journalists gathered near the Diamondback 4x4 business in Swannanoa, a community hit hard by the storm.
“That's quite a scene driving up. You see that kind of destruction, actually incredible. To see that is incredible. It's the power of nature,” he said, describing the scenes of devastation he saw on his way to the event.
“Nothing you can do about it, but you got to get a little bit better crew to do a better job than has been done by the White House,” he said.
Trump avoided a direct answer to a question about whether or not climate change was making storms like Helene worse, instead touting the “cleanest air and water” on record during his presidency.
The Republican nominee also promised to “personally recruit businesses from all over the world” to help the region’s economy recover. He pointed to taxation incentives and tariffs as ways that he could also help the region’s economy, but did not provide any specifics about how the policies would aid the area.
In response to Helene, he said his campaign had launched a GoFundMe to raise money for storm victims. At the Swannanoa event, Trump said $7 million had been distributed to “various charities” and that he was taking recommendations of where the final $1 million should go.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards and NC House Speaker Tim Moore were also in attendance. Edwards praised Trump’s decision to appear in Swannanoa.
“It means so much to the folks here whose lives have been turned upside down, whose homes have been destroyed, who have lost loved ones, whose businesses have been destroyed,” he said.
Edwards, who owns seven McDonald’s franchises, presented Trump with a “French Fry Certification pin,” a seemingly made-up award, to commemorate the former President’s recent shift at a McDonalds in Pennsylvania.
“We've seen other folks do a flyover,” Edwards said. “It is so heartening to see you here, with some dust on your shoes, actually seeing what's taking place.”
In comments made on Sept. 30, Biden said he chose not to visit on the ground because it would be "disruptive if I did right now."
City and county officials said they were not responsible for the decision to blockade roads for Trump’s visit.
Asheville Fire Department spokesperson Kelley Klope said that the NC State Highway Patrol, Mississippi Highway Patrol and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department did “the vast majority of the heavy lifting for this visit,” she said, adding that “the only resources that APD utilized were from our UAS team and members of the Bomb Squad.”
Trump criticized the efforts of FEMA, the federal agency tasked with disaster recovery, at length, saying they’ve done a “very poor job.”
He called FEMA’s rescue effort “almost non-existent,” which is untrue. FEMA has provided more than $123 million to more than 90,000 households in North Carolina.
Edwards did not dispute Trump’s lies on Monday. Previously, Edwards recounted FEMA’s work in the area, noting in his email newsletter that the agency “has shipped 13 million meals and 13 million liters of water utilizing the $20 billion in funds that I helped to draft and pass for disaster relief just two days before Hurricane Helene hit.”
When asked if his criticism of FEMA may have encouraged a Rutherford County man who was arrested in connection to a threat against FEMA, Trump demurred, saying that if FEMA is doing a bad job, people are entitled to criticize.
READ MORE: "Trump says he has faith in North Carolina election results"
Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect Rep. Edwards proper title.
