Harris packs aid boxes for North Carolina hurricane victims ahead of campaign push

The US Vice-President’s campaign believes it can flip the state against Trump as Harris criss-crosses America to drum up support

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US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris helps pack supplies for those affected by Hurricane Helene in Raleigh, North Carolina. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:16pm, 13 Oct 2024Updated: 1:18pm, 13 Oct 2024

US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Saturday helped pack diapers into boxes of personal care products destined for North Carolina hurricane victims, agreeing with one helper who said “it takes a village.”

“You’re exactly right,” Harris replied to Greg Hatem, owner of The Pit Authentic Barbecue restaurant as she put two packages of diapers inside each cardboard box that was placed in front of her assembly-line style.

Harris met Black leaders at the barbecue restaurant in Raleigh before she joined volunteers who were there to pack bandages, baby milk formula, baby wipes, pain relief pills and other items for victims of Hurricane Helene, which tore through western North Carolina last month.

Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice-President Kamala Harris greets a supporter who is helping with relief supplies for hurricane victims, during a stop at “The Pit” barbecue restaurant. Photo: Reuters

The vice-president was overnighting in the state, which narrowly backed her rival, Republican Donald Trump, in 2020. Democrats are campaigning hard to flip North Carolina into their column in the presidential election next month. On Sunday, Harris was attending church in Greenville as part of her campaign’s “Souls to the Polls” effort to get out the vote and holding a rally.

The weekend trip was her second to the battleground state after it was struck by Hurricane Helene. The Democratic presidential nominee went to North Carolina last Saturday to survey the aftermath of Helene and pledged federal help for its victims.

Before her plane left Washington, Harris told reporters accompanying her that she looked forward to talking with residents “first and foremost to see how they’re doing in the wake of the hurricane.”

Democrats view North Carolina as swinging their way this year with its base of Black and college-educated voters, as well as women concerned about the loss of abortion protections. But the aftermath of Hurricane Helene has become a political flashpoint with former President Trump and his allies attacking the Biden administration’s response to the natural disaster.

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