Harris will tour Helene devastation in Georgia, North Carolina as storm scrambles campaign schedule

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will tour damage caused by Hurricane Helene in Georgia and North Carolina as the deadly storm roils the political calendar just over a month from Election Day.

The Democratic nominee plans to visit Georgia on Wednesday and survey the devastation in North Carolina in the coming days, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the travel plans. Harris’ team has been working to coordinate her plans to avoid impacting local disaster response efforts.

Harris had been scheduled to join her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on a bus tour across Pennsylvania on Wednesday, the day after he faced off with Ohio Sen. JD Vance in Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate. Walz will instead be joined by Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.

After Georgia, Harris plans to continue with scheduled campaign visits to Wisconsin and Michigan later this week, with the North Carolina trip coming sometime after that.

President Joe Biden will visit North Carolina on Wednesday, checking out the worst damage in the Asheville area by helicopter to avoid tying up local resources.

Republican nominee Donald Trump visited Georgia on Monday, where he spread falsehoods about the federal response to the storm despite claiming not to be politicizing the disaster.