HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina — Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Michael Whatley in the Tar Heel State Monday afternoon, where he announced nearly $900 million in new Department of Transportation disaster relief funds to assist North Carolinians still rebuilding after 2024’s Hurricane Helene.
In western North Carolina, Republican supporters were bused into the Hyder Warehouse to hear Vance and North Carolina elected officials rally support for Jennifer Balkcom, Laurie Buckhout, and Whatley, the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Whatley is currently trailing former Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), the Democratic nominee, by 9.6 points, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, and the administration has appeared in North Carolina multiple times over the last several weeks to boost the sagging Whatley.
President Donald Trump will rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
Vance’s announcement drew a standing ovation from the hundreds-strong crowd.
“It’s going to take years to rebuild the beautiful state that you guys saw suffer after Hurricane Helene, but I’m proud to announce today that thanks to the hard work of President Trump and the advocacy of these fighters, [Transportation] Secretary Sean Duffy — and of course because Michael Watley would not shut up about it — we’re announcing $858 million in additional disaster relief funding for the Department of Transportation,” the vice president stated. “We’re going to rebuild eight major corridors destroyed by Hurricane Helene, including, of course, the I-40 and Pigeon River Gorge.”
“But, ladies and gentlemen, that highlights the contrast in this election, because when Democrats were in power, they were doing nothing for Western North Carolina, and now that we have Republicans in power and people like Michael Watley and Jennifer advocating for you, we are making sure that this state gets the money it deserves to rebuild the lives of our fellow citizens,” he continued.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency already authorized $7.5 billion toward Helene recovery efforts under the Trump administration, which Vance highlighted during his remarks as he made the case to support Republicans.
“One of the things I’m proudest of is that FEMA committed $7.5 billion to rebuilding all the damage caused by Helene, and of course, we know that the recovery and the rebuilding is still going on,” Vance said just before announcing the additional aid.
Whatley chaired the Republican National Committee during Trump’s 2024 campaign, and the long-time political operative put Trump on the ground in North Carolina in the immediate aftermath of the deadly storm, even before then-President Joe Biden had an opportunity to visit.
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“When North Carolina needed leadership the most, Roy Cooper abandoned Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024. Hurricane Helene slammed into western North Carolina, unleashing record-setting rains, damaging or destroying 73,000 homes, wiping out 45,000 small businesses, and killing 107 people,” Whatley highlighted on Monday, incorrectly identifying Cooper as having been out of the state on the date Helene hit. “Unlike other governors across the southeast who were preparing for that hurricane? Roy Cooper was in New York City for a climate change gala ball with all of his liberal elite friends.”
Cooper attended the New York Times’s Climate Forward event on Sept. 25, 2024, and returned to North Carolina the same day, according to NPR affiliate WFAE.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
