Trump’s false claim that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp couldn’t reach Joe Biden after Hurricane Helene

In a Sept. 30 visit to Georgia after the state was devastated by Hurricane Helene, former President Trump falsely said that Gov. Brian Kemp could not reach President Joe Biden.

The Category 4 hurricane had a death toll of 119 people in the southeastern U.S. as of Sept. 30, and millions were without power and water. Trump visited a furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, about 60 miles from where the storm made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region.

Trump praised first responders and thanked Kemp, a Republican who did not appear with Trump, for "working hard around the clock."

Trump said locals were doing the best they could in challenging circumstances. 

"We do need some help from the federal government. They have to get together, ideally, with the governor. That governor needs to, he's been trying to get them, and I'm sure they're going to come through, but he's been calling the president, hasn't been able to get him," Trump said. "But they'll come through, I'm sure. And Georgia and North Carolina need the help, probably worst of all, but North Carolina has really been hit. They have really been hit."

Trump did not name the governor who he said couldn’t reach Biden; he could have been referring to Kemp or Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.  

But Trump made a similar claim using Kemp’s name during a press gaggle after he landed at Valdosta Regional Airport. A reporter asked Trump, "What do you think of Gov. Kemp's response to the storm here in Georgia?"

Trump replied: "The governor is doing a very good job, he's having a hard time getting the president on the phone. They're being very nonresponsive."

But Kemp said the opposite. He said he talked to Biden on Sept. 29, a day before Trump made the claim. 

"The president just called me yesterday afternoon — I missed him and called him right back," Kemp said at a Sept. 30 news conference in Augusta. "And he just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, ‘You know, we got what we need, we will work through the federal process.’ He offered that if there's other things we need, just to call him directly, which, I appreciate that."

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Later Sept. 30, a reporter asked Biden about Trump’s remarks during a disaster response update. 

"He's lying and the governor told him he was lying," Biden said of Trump. "I’ve spoken to the governor."

Biden said of Trump, "I don't know why he does this, and the reason I get so angry about it, I don't care about what he says about me, but I care what he communicates to the people that are in need. He implies that we're not doing everything possible. We are."

A Sept. 29 press pool report said Biden spoke that evening with Kemp, Cooper, Valdosta, Ga., Mayor Scott Matheson, and John Louk, the emergency management director of Taylor County, Florida, where Hurricane Helene made landfall.

The pool report said: "The President reached out to additional officials across North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina. In each conversation, the President received updates on response and recovery efforts, and he shared how the Biden-Administration will continue providing support to impacted communities — for as long as it takes."

Biden recapped his weekend calls in a Sept. 30 news conference, saying, "I spoke for a couple hours with leaders yesterday affected by this hurricane and Gov. Kemp of Georgia, Gov. Cooper of North Carolina, county officials in the Big Bend region of Florida, and other leaders in South Carolina and Tennessee" about the hurricane’s devastation.

Biden said his team remains in "constant contact" with state and local leaders and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell will be stationed in Asheville, North Carolina, to see through recovery efforts. 

Trump said Sept. 30 that Kemp had "been calling the president, hasn't been able to get him."

Kemp told reporters that he had spoken to Biden on Sept. 29, and a press pool report also said the same.

We rate Trump’s statement False.