Reporters had a unique opportunity to question President Biden when he made a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing on Friday, but didn’t ask about the historic disaster unfolding in the Southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
It was the first time that Biden appeared at a White House press briefing since taking office. The president spoke briefly about the suspended port workers strike and Friday’s positive jobs numbers, and he announced that he may request additional money from Congress to fund Hurricane Helene relief efforts. But there was no follow-up from the press on hurricane relief.
After thanking the president for his presence, the first reporter asked about Republicans casting doubt on his economic numbers, saying, “Florida Sen. Marco Rubio described today’s jobs report as having fake numbers. What do you make of that? And how worried are you that many Americans are hearing that the jobs numbers aren’t real?”
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The crisis in the Middle East was the biggest topic, with questions about Biden’s comments about strikes on Iranian oil facilities, Israeli plans to retaliate, possible U.S. sanctions, and worries about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trying to influence the U.S. election.
Election security and the peaceful transfer of power were also top of mind for reporters.
“The election is a month away. One, I’d like to know how you’re feeling about how this election is going. And then also, do you have confidence that it will be a free and fair election and that it will be peaceful?” one reporter asked. “Are you making any preparations, getting security briefings related to domestic security?”
The only mention of Hurricane Helene, with a death toll topping 230, was in a question about Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in the administration.
“There have obviously been a number of crises that the country has been facing over the past several days with the hurricane, with the port strike, with the situation in the Middle East. Can you talk about how your vice president, who is running for the presidency, has worked on these crises and what role she has played over the past several days?” a reporter asked.
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The Biden-Harris administration has come under fire from former President Trump for the federal response to the devastation left by Helene, already one of the deadliest hurricanes this century.
The White House has pushed back hard against these criticisms, emphasizing that Biden has coordinated the federal response, including approving emergency declarations and deploying 1,000 active-duty soldiers to support search-and-rescue efforts. More than 4,800 personnel from FEMA and other agencies have been deployed to North Carolina and neighboring states impacted by Helene. Additionally, FEMA has shipped over 8.5 million meals, more than 7 million liters of water, 150 generators and over 220,000 tarps to aid response efforts, according to the White House.
As of Friday, the federal government has provided more than $45 million in Individual assistance to survivors affected by the storm, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, including in the form of one-time $750 payments from FEMA to qualified applicants in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
While Biden ended his own press conference dry spell, Harris has not held a formal news conference since emerging as the Democratic nominee when Biden dropped out in July.
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