Jason Cohen
Newsmax host Rob Finnerty and political analyst Mark Halperin clashed on Tuesday about whether Vice President Kamala Harris should visit areas affected by Hurricane Helene.
Harris has not yet toured any of the damaged regions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina or Tennessee, but intends to visit “as soon as possible without disrupting emergency response operations,” according to a White House official, NBC News reported. Halperin argued on “Wake Up America” that a visit isn’t necessary yet due to the risk of disruption, while Finnerty pushed back, saying he doesn’t find that excuse valid for not making the trip.
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“In my experience, Rob, cable news anchors care more about the timing of presidential and vice presidential visits to disaster zones than the people on the ground who just want water and cell service and roads open,” Halperin said. “So she’ll go, but you can create the appearance that people in North Carolina and Georgia are clamoring to see a photo op, but I don’t think they are from the conversations I’ve had with Republicans and Democrats. They want federal aid. They want state aid. They want local aid. They don’t care about a photo op.”
Finnerty later noted that former President Barack Obama visited New Jersey in 2012 to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy.
“He did the right thing. Did it divert resources? Did it take away from the search and rescue or the cleanup? No, he was on the ground because the job of commander in chief and somebody who wants to be commander in chief is optics. So don’t give me this line about how the media cares about the optics,” he said. “The media care about the optics because we are the mouthpiece of the people, alright? It’s a public trust … Kamala needs to be there. She doesn’t need to be standing in the water in Asheville. But she’s got to be on the ground, not at [Federal Emergency Management Agency] FEMA headquarters. Mark, please. I don’t buy that for a second.”
The Newsmax host added that Harris’ handling of the Hurricane could play a role in her losing the November election.
“The only thing I think we differ on is the question of is it some fatal error to not go to the region tomorrow or today as compared to in a few days? I’m telling you, when a president or vice president goes, it shuts down the operation and they’re just not interested in interfering that way, not just because they’re trying to do the right thing,” Halperin said before Finnerty interrupted him.
Hurricane Helene made landfall on Thursday and left a combined death toll of over 130 and up to 600 people were missing as of Monday, according to The Associated Press.
“I think that’s a load of you know what, honestly. That’s been a narrative for as long as I’ve been alive. ‘Well, presidents don’t want to go in there because, you know, that diverts resources and it takes away from search and rescue and police are allocated to that.’ There are ways around that. Barack Obama found a way around it, because 35 days away from an election in 2012, he knew that he needed to win that election,” Finnerty said. “So he was there in New Jersey with the governor of New Jersey. I don’t remember hearing stories about like, ‘Oh my gosh, everything stopped because Barack Obama was there.’ That’s a media line, Mark, and you’ve been in the media for 30 years. You know it. You know as much. She could go if she wanted to go.”
Halperin said President Joe Biden and Harris are “doing everything they can to make sure that they don’t suffer politically from this,” but Finnerty suggested there is much more they could do. The political analyst credited the administration for “doing a lot,” including calling governors and providing Federal Emergency Management Agency resources.
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