Kamala Harris is on the receiving end of some well-deserved scorn for her gross incompetence in dealing with the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene. As RedState’s Sister Toldjah reported earlier Monday, there’s a viral photo of Kamala Harris going around, showing the current vice president scribbling notes after supposedly having just been briefed by FEMA. Curiously, her wired earbuds weren’t plugged into her phone, which could have made talking and listening a bit of a challenge.
Kamala wasn’t plugged in … in more ways than one.
It wasn’t until Donald Trump, who is not, in fact, currently in office, announced he’d be visiting storm-affected Georgia that Harris, who is currently in office, decided she needed to act concerned about the many Americans affected by the devastating hurricane. The Biden administration issued the standard, boilerplate announcement that the federal government would devote the necessary resources to help clean up.
No one expected Joe Biden to get off his beach lounger to take command of the situation — it’s called a telephone, you all! — but certainly, some voters were left wondering: Where was Kamala?
It’s not like Kamala Harris didn’t know a huge and potentially destructive storm was barreling its way toward the southern U.S. She not only knew it was coming, but her campaign actually placed a big ad buy on The Weather Channel precisely because they knew the hurricane was on its way and residents would be glued to their TVs and devices to get the latest on the storm track and intensity:
The Kamala Harris campaign has placed new national ad spending on The Weather Channel; for 9/24-9/30 flight
Comes as potential Hurricane Helene develops in the Caribbean
— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) September 23, 2024
Now, an ad buy made a week ago as the storm was still brewing is not necessarily a bad thing; the intention was clearly to get southern voters, the people most interested in the hurricane, to see her messaging. It’s the same reason that both Trump and Harris ran ads during last Saturday’s Alabama vs. Georgia college football game: they each want to win Georgia. They each need to win Georgia.
The problem with Kamala’s Weather Channel ad buy is that hurricanes can be fickle things; sometimes they fizzle out and sometimes they beat a brutal path right through American communities. That latter-case scenario — the one that actually played out across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina — didn’t seem to matter much to Kamala and her campaign, just as long as they got eyeballs on their ad.
And what an ad it was. As if politicizing the storm through the ad buy wasn’t bad enough, the campaign ad she chose to run during the crisis touted how she’d be president “to all Americans.” Except those Americans who were, at that same time, having their lives upended due to the effects of the storm.
WATCH:
The Harris campaign is up nationally on The Weather Channel as Hurricane Helene bears down on the Big Bend — https://t.co/wOIGN5YaEr pic.twitter.com/mPrW13oIn4
— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) September 25, 2024
Here’s the transcript:
As a prosecutor, I never asked a victim or a witness, “Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” They only thing I ever asked them is, “Are you okay?” And that’s the kind of president we need right now. Someone who cares about you and is not putting themselves first. I intend to be a president for all Americans and focus on investing right now in you, the American people. And we can chart a new way forward.
She cares about all Americans, but had to be brow-beaten into showing even a modicum of concern for those affected by Helene? Did she even spare a thought for them as she undertook her Hurricane Kamala political fundraising storm across the state of California?
The Weather Channel ad buy was set to end Monday, and it’s not clear if the full buy went ahead; RedState is awaiting comment from Medium Buying about the ultimate fate of the ad flight. It is clear, however, from the clip above that the ad was still up and running even as the severity of the storm became known. But, sure, she’ll be a president to all Americans.
Read related:
In the Aftermath of Hurricane Helene, One NC Congress Member Raises Awareness – for Her Campaign
