President Quicker Picker Upper
Trump's visit to Helene disaster areas reminds us that he's the disaster.
Politicians usually have the good taste NOT to politicize disasters, especially during disasters. That’s exactly what Trump did yesterday. What’s particularly disgusting about Trump going to a disaster site and politicizing it is that he also lied his little orange balls off about it. He used it to attack his political opponents.
While campaigning in Valdosta, Georgia yesterday, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, Trump claimed that President Joe Biden was “sleeping” and not responding to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who he said was “calling the president and hasn’t been able to get him.”
Later at an event with reporters and being told Kemp said he had spoken to Biden, Trump repeated the lie.
Upon hearing the latest of Trump’s bullshit, President Biden told reporters, “He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying.”
Biden had talked to Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper the night before Trump told his lie. Biden also spoke with Scott Matheson, mayor of Valdosta, Georgia, and Florida Emergency Management Director John Louk. Kemp confirmed they had talked.
Kemp said, “The president just called me yesterday afternoon and I missed him and called him right back and he just said ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, you know, we’ve got what we need, we’ll work through the federal process. He offered if there are other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.”
It doesn’t sound like Biden is sleeping.
Trump claimed on Truth Social, without evidence, that the federal government and North Carolina’s Democratic governor were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.” Asheville, which was devastated by the storm, is solidly Democratic, as is much of Buncombe County, which surrounds it.
Trump probably believes every president does that because it’s what he did.
Trump also claimed, while campaigning in a disaster area, that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were “politicizing” the storm. Harris cut short campaigning on the West Coast to return to Washington for a briefing from FEMA.
Hurricane Helene has killed over 100 and yet, Trump is politicizing it and using disaster areas for campaigning.
It took Trump two weeks to visit Puerto Rico after it was hit by Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Trump claimed only 17 people were killed when the real death toll was over 3,000.
Trump visited the island, which he didn’t realize was a U.S. territory or an island “surrounded by water.” He wanted to meet the president of Puerto Rico, not realizing he was the president (sic) of Puerto Rico.
Addressing the federal response, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz said during a press conference, “We are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency.” Trump responded by criticizing her for "poor leadership” and tweeted that the mayor and "others in Puerto Rico ... want everything to be done for them."
While visiting Puerto Rico, he implied it wasn’t a real disaster like Hurricane Katrina, complained that their needs were throwing the federal budget “a little out of whack,” and tossed paper towels to hurricane victims.
Investigations later found that Donald Trump explicitly and intentionally delayed over $20 billion from going to Puerto Rico, which he regarded as “corrupt.” He told staffers to redirect hurricane relief efforts from Puerto Rico to Texas and Florida, two red states that had voted for him.
Trump’s response and complaining about having to respond is another example of his racism, not wanting to help Brown-skinned people who didn’t vote for him.
Trump’s visit to a disaster area and his lies should remind everyone that he’s unfit and incapable of being president. Donald Trump also got one shot at this and the ruling is he’s the worst president (sic) in American history. Why in the hell is this nation considering giving him another chance?
Drawn in 30 seconds:
Timelapse while I talk about the cartoon and stuff:
Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon at Claytoonz is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.
Tales From The Trumpster Fire: I’m currently out of copies but I’ll restock my personal batch soon so you order your copy signed by me, for $45.00. You can pay through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.
Knee-Deep In Mississippi: There are only ten copies left of my first book, published in 1997. These can be purchased for $40.00
Tip Jar: If you want to support the cartoonist, please donate through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402
EXACTLY! Why is anyone voting for him? Love the Bounty Ad on the ear, Pizza Rat with a black cat? in the crowd...and Maria (2027)...Excellent toon and blog.
He's totally desperate. He knows that his lawyers have run out the clock on his nonsense legal claims, so he's going to jail unless he really does flee to somewhere he can keep the grift going as "government in exile". Who knows, we could get lucky and a bunch of his MAGA's will go with him. No doubt he could use a few body servants in Venezuela.
As scared as he is, playing politics before the power comes back on is the very least of the tricks he'll pull to try to become dictator. And dictator he will certainly try to be. He can't leave office, or it's jail. If he loses, it's jail.
His only hope is to be elected and pull off a "project 2025" in a hurry.
Expect a tsunami of lies and mud this month. His "October Surprise" is going to be a giant lying fart in the face of the nation.
The MAGA's will love it.