By When Democrats tell you who they are, you should probably listen.
In a recent shocking episode of his podcast, David Axelrod, a former Obama advisor, discussed voter turnout dynamics in Asheville, North Carolina, following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Highlighting that Democratic voters in the region are generally more educated and affluent, Axelrod appeared to argue that Joe Biden’s lax response to recovery efforts will likely help Democrats win the key state in next month’s election.
According to Axelrod, despite any dissatisfaction with Vice President Kamala Harris, liberal voters in the area are likely to still make it to the polls over their poorer, more desperate neighbors.
On his podcast @davidaxelrod says Democrat voters in Asheville, North Carolina are smarter, wealthier and will still show up to vote for Kamala while he thinks Trump voters won’t. This is why Kamala and Biden aren’t helping, they benefit from the disaster: pic.twitter.com/CqCAY0An74
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 4, 2024
An almost giddy Politico agreed with Axelrod, writing that research has shown that major disasters can influence both voter turnout and voter preference. And Helene has pushed this contest into novel territory: It’s the first catastrophic event in U.S. history to hit two critical swing states within six weeks of a presidential election, based on a POLITICO’s E&E News analysis of data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The challenge for Trump: The parts of western North Carolina and eastern Georgia that were flooded by the monster storm are largely Republican. In 2020, he won 61 percent of the vote in the North Carolina counties that were declared a disaster after Helene. He won 54 percent of the vote in Georgia’s disaster counties.
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris this week visited Georgia, a state that President Joe Biden won by just 11,779 votes in 2020. Georgia and North Carolina each have 16 electoral votes, and polls show that Trump is leading Harris by about 1 percentage point in each state, well within the margin of error.
“There’s going to be a lot of [voting] alterations, and it probably is going to affect turnout,” said Andy Jackson, director of the John Locke Foundation’s Civitas Center for Public Integrity, a free-market think tank in North Carolina.
Critics have argued that the potential discrepancy in voter turnout in the areas hardest hit by Helene could explain why the administration has not been more aggressive in addressing specific concerns.
🚨🚨MAKE IT GO VIRAL!
“They are literally allowing this people to fvcking die in the mountains right now because we can’t get helicopters.”
Jonathan Howard with the Florida State Guard Special Mission Unit who is assisting Aerial Recovery says they desperately NEED… pic.twitter.com/EtWrkYtYc4
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) October 2, 2024
Real Clear Politics reportd tht “Jonathan Howard with Florida State Guard Special Missions Unit assisting with aerial recovery in North Carolina following the damage of Hurricane Helene, delivered a video message explaining what is really happening on the ground.
‘I had my team up here working as well. Here’s the problem. I’m going to tell you everything that’s happening from the ground, what I’m actually seeing, because what they’re telling you is complete bullsh*t on the news and these politicians don’t have a f*cking clue and they’re lying,’ Howard said.
‘I don’t know why they’re doing it,’ Howard said of the federal response. ‘I don’t know what kind of conspiracy I’ve heard so many things, whatever you want to come up with, but they are literally allowing these people to f*cking die in the mountains right now because we can’t get helicopters. They got money for everything else in the f*cking world right now.'”
The sentiment was echoed by Elon Musk. The SpaceX founder told Twitter that he was trying to deploy his satellite internet system, Starlink, to help those facing the disaster, but his employees were blocked by FEMA.
SpaceX engineers are trying to deliver Starlink terminals & supplies to devastated areas in North Carolina right now and @FEMA is both failing to help AND won’t let others help. This is unconscionable!!
They just took this video a few hours ago, where you can see the level of… pic.twitter.com/abpOsfNenF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2024
Hurricane Helene ravaged western North Carolina, wiping out entire towns in its path. The Category 4 storm has left at least 222 people dead nationwide, with hundreds still missing. In North Carolina alone, 106 fatalities have been confirmed so far.
[Read More: One Employer Made All The Job Gains]
