President Joe Biden bowed his head during a tearful prayer at a Georgia pecan farm that suffered devastating losses in the wake of Hurricane Helene and responded to criticism of his response Thursday.
The 81-year-old commander in chief remained silent during sweltering heat as a Ray City farmer concluded his remarks at a post-hurricane event with a prayer.
Biden and top Washington officials stood and listened in front of rows of enormous upturned pecan trees behind him, their brown leaves just days after Hurricane Helene struck.
Ray City is about 18 miles north of Valdosta, one of the areas hardest hit by Helene and where Donald Trump visited earlier this week.
Most of the area remains without power and residents are recovering from the deadliest hurricane since Katrina, which has killed 200 people so far. At least 33 have died in Georgia.
“Lord, this is your creation,” Shiloh farm property manager Buck Paulk said, with Biden and lawmakers gathered behind him.
“There is not a twig, a leaf, a branch or a root that you are unaware of,” he said in his Georgian accent. ‘Lord, we need help, it all comes from you.’
President Joe Biden bowed his head during a tearful prayer at a Georgia pecan farm that suffered devastating losses from Hurricane Helene.
Farmers here are looking for other help from Washington, D.C., and Biden said they would get it.
The president responded to a question about an emergency supplemental bill, something he said could soon be needed to provide relief. President Mike Johnson previously said another bill replenished a FEMA fund.
‘I can’t wait, I can’t wait. People need help now,” Biden said.
“At times like this, it’s time to put politics aside,” Biden said during his own remarks. He called to “break this rabid partisanship that exists” and then said that funds in some of his previous laws went more to red states than blue ones.
‘It’s not one state against another, it’s the United States. You know, there are no Democrats or Republicans here… there are only Americans here. “I have committed to being president for all Americans.”
Earlier this week, Trump accused Biden of going out of his way to not help Republicans affected by the storm.
At a rally Thursday he said the response has been worse than Hurricane Katrina.
“There’s no one who has handled a hurricane or a storm worse than what they’re doing now,” Trump said. ‘Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal immigrants. Many of whom should not be in our country.
Biden named Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, thanking him and saying they spoke earlier Thursday.
Kemp has already responded to his contact, but Kemp is there in person for the presidential tour of his state.
The event was attended by Senator Rafael Warnock, a Democrat who helped give Democrats their majority, as well as Representative Austin Scott, a Republican whom Biden also acknowledged.
“Lord, this is your creation,” Shiloh farm property manager Buck Paulk said, with Biden and lawmakers gathered behind him.
Farmers here are looking for other help from Washington, D.C., and Biden said they would get it.
‘FEMA has been here. The coordination has been pretty good,” he told DailyMail.com at the farm.
He said damage to the walnut crop was “about $500 million.”
On a previous storm tour in Florida, Biden met with people who lost their homes. Some homes were gone entirely, with only bare pilings remaining in what had been a retirement and tourist community near Big Bend, where the storm made landfall.
The president was accompanied by Senator Rick Scott, who was there in jeans and his familiar Navy cap from previous service during the storm.
Biden named Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, thanking him and saying they spoke earlier Thursday.
But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was not there, despite an apparent effort by the White House to get in touch.
When asked why DeSantis wasn’t there, Scott told DailyMail.com: “I don’t know.” DailyMail.com has contacted the governor’s office for comment.
DeSantis has been with Biden during other disasters, including after the Surfside building collapse, which occurred as the two contemplated a possible presidential battle.
The governor, who endorsed Donald Trump after a bitter primary that ended in his defeat, may have in mind a famous event in which New Jersey Governor Chris Christie toured the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy weeks before the 2012 election. Observers said it strengthened Obama in his re-election.
The trip to Georgia was the last by a high-level politician to a troubled and damaged state.