ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Former President Donald Trump, widely criticized for lying about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, visited the Asheville area on Monday.
The former president continued to bash the response from FEMA during his visit and bragged about the help he got for the area from Elon Musk, owner of remote Internet provider Starlink.
Trump also talked about stopping the “steal,” touted his plans for tariffs if he is re-elected, President Joe Biden no longer running for president and the record turnout in North Carolina’s early voting.
His visit came almost a month after the remnants of Hurricane Helene destroyed towns and property and upended lives across Western North Carolina.
“I’ve seen some pretty bad devastation. I’ve seen the tornado devastation and they’re pretty incredible. This is much more spread out, but you would see a line like it was cut by a razor blade of a tornado that went through an area and it was literally a foot left. It was perfect and a foot, right?” Trump said.
“It was down to dirt, big trees, ripped out and thrown. So I’ve seen that, but that was a much narrower thing. But you certainly didn’t want to be in the way of it. I’ve seen trailer parks where they were, they weren’t even, they were there and very nice, and they were literally, there wasn’t a thing left. The pipes were ripped out of the ground,” Trump continued. “So, I’ve seen some pretty bad ones. I’ve seen some really bad ones with you.”
If re-elected, Trump said he would “slash through every bureaucratic barrier” to ensure WNC residents get back on their feet.
“I will personally recruit businesses from all over the world to help restore the prosperity to the region. They’ll be moving in and going to be more, a lot of businesses are going to be moving back to our country through the proper use of taxation incentives and tariffs, one of the most beautiful words that nobody understands, or very few people understand,” Trump said.
“But we’re going to be using tariffs and good, proper tech taxation and, very importantly, incentives. And we’re going to have a lot of people moving back to your state and this region, but your state they’re going to be very interested in,” Trump promised.
The former president said it’s vital that people not let the storm that has taken so much take their voices.
“You must get out and vote,” he said.
Early voting began Thursday, Oct. 17, and will end at 3 p.m. on the Saturday before Election Day, Nov. 2. Under current state law, votes from early voting are not tabulated until all votes are in at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. They will be counted simultaneously with Election Day votes.
Read more about early voting sites in Buncombe County here.
“You know, the thing that amazes me most is areas such as this and others where there’s, it’s so hard to vote. People have lost their homes, they’ve sometimes lost members of their family. You know, they’ve set a record in voting, can you believe it?” Trump said.
According to the State Board of Elections, preliminary data showed a record 353,166 people cast ballots at more than 400 early voting sites statewide on Thursday, compared to 348,599 on the first day in October 2020.
“People, I don’t know, I don’t even know where they’re living. Their house is gone and they were standing in line ready to vote. So you have, you have amazing, you have amazing people here,” he said.
When asked if he had seen anything that looked suspicious in early voting, “I have not,” Trump said. “We’re very early in the process. We’re very early in the tracking across all things right now. We’re very happy with the initial results.”
The former president also took time during the stop to accuse the government of misusing Federal Emergency Management Agency money, an accusation that has been proven false.
One person who has blasted the false information about FEMA is Congressman Chuck Edwards, who was with Trump on Monday.
Edwards said nothing as Trump accused the government of misusing the money.
“If they’re doing a poor job, we’re supposed to not say it. These people are entitled to say it,” Trump said, looking behind him. “These are honest people behind us. If FEMA were doing well, they would be saying they did a good job. They’re not.”
He also talked about North Carolina officials, who he said were doing a good job but asked for his help.
“And they said, ‘You know Elon Musk?’ I said I happened to know the gentleman. ‘What’s your problem? Do you think you could get Starlink?’ I said, ‘What is Starlink?'”
The former president said it was explained to him that Starlink was a way to communicate via satellite connection.
“I see the poles all ripped down all over, you had almost no communication here,” Trump said. “And I said, ‘So, what do you need?’ He said we need Starlink and we can’t get it. There’s nobody that knows anything about how to get it. So I called Elon.”
But that false recounting of events has also sparked criticism. The Monday after the storm, FEMA announced 40 Starlink systems had been deployed to the area and another 140 were to be shipped with other communications aid.
When asked about that by a reporter, Trump said the federal government didn’t get Starlink.
“Well, they didn’t get it because all I know is a top official who is working, who happens to be a Republican, was very concerned that they didn’t have any communication and they weren’t able to get Starlink,” Trump said, delving into comments about Musk’s endorsement and rocket power.
“In this case, the Starlink, I’ve learned a lot about it. It’s incredible. You don’t need the wires, you don’t need digging, you don’t need it. Goes right up to a satellite and comes right back down. And he did a fantastic job, I don’t know, maybe they were trying, but certainly he didn’t know about it, nobody knew about it, and, you know, obviously, they were not able to get it.”
However, this was false. FEMA was able to get Starlink to the area. According to reports, by the Tuesday after the storm, communications were already improved in the area after the federally-funded units had been deployed.
Trump’s visit comes at the height of election frenzy. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Western North Carolina has become a new battlefield for what is already a battleground state in the race for the White House.