On September 30, former President Donald Trump made a visit to Valdosta, Georgia, a city that suffered greatly from Hurricane Helen, which affected several states. During his time there, he made it clear that he would “not talk about politics,” deliberately steering away from direct criticism of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, Harris went back to Washington D.C. to receive updates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about the disaster response, even as Trump later called her a “fake and staged” photo for a post she shared.

According to a USA Today report, while Trump observed the damage, he told reporters, “We’re not discussing politics right now.” Interestingly, just hours before, he had been publicly criticizing the Biden administration’s response to the disaster.

On the evening of September 29, Harris posted a photo on X (formerly Twitter), depicting herself listening to FEMA and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper as they discussed the impact of Hurricane Helen. In the image, she appears in Air Force Two, wearing wired headphones and taking notes while multitasking on her phone.

In response, Trump took to his platform, Truth Social, to poke fun at Harris’s post, noting that her headphones were visibly not plugged into her phone. He remarked, “You have to plug the headphone jack into the phone to hear anything.”

The photo exhibited Harris’s headphone wire hanging down without a visible connection to her phone, which piqued Trump’s interest further. He commented, “Another fake and staged photo from someone who has no idea what they are doing.”

This wasn’t the first instance of Harris being scrutinized about her headphone usage. On a previous occasion, she was seen trying to evade media questions while holding her phone, even though she was wearing headphones. Former Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh humorously noted, “When you’re pretending to talk on the phone to dodge the media, don’t wear headphones and hold the phone to your ear at the same time — sound only comes from one source.”

Trump also shared a photo of himself assessing the damage in Valdosta, stating, “I will be there soon.”

As for Harris, she has yet to visit any of the affected areas. Her campaign team announced the cancellation of a scheduled rally in Las Vegas on the evening of September 30 so she could return to D.C. for disaster briefings. Local officials have advised against visits from either Harris or Biden at this time, as they are still focused on rescue efforts and damage assessments.

In a public address in Valdosta, Trump noted, “We do need some help from the federal government,” although he inaccurately claimed that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (Republican) had sought assistance from Biden but received no response. The White House quickly set the record straight, confirming that Biden had indeed been in contact with Kemp.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates stated on X that Kemp had said, “The president called me on the afternoon of the 29th and asked what I needed.” Kemp also expressed that Biden had assured him he could call directly if necessary, thanking him for the outreach.

During his visit to Valdosta, Trump was seen bowing his head in prayer alongside Pastor Gregory outside the storm-damaged Chez What furniture store.