Former US president Donald Trump hits the campaign trail in hurricane-hit North Carolina on Monday, having heavily criticized the government's disaster response after at least 124 people were killed there by storm Helene.
Emergency services are still distributing food and water in the worst-affected parts of the state almost a month after Helene slammed into the southeastern United States, leaving more than 240 dead in its wake, according to an AFP tally. Trump will hold a campaign rally in the city of Greenville, while his Democratic rival Kamala Harris is set to address supporters in other battleground states Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The two candidates are locked in a neck-and-neck race for the White House with just over two weeks until Election Day. Polls show the contest is too close to call, including in the seven swing states that decide US elections.
In North Carolina, emergency services continue to address the storm's aftermath, with urban search-and-rescue teams still at work in some areas.
On Sunday, the White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had "approved more than $300 million in assistance across the state, including $118 million in individual assistance to more than 87,600 households."
The immediate aftermath of the storm left many without access to power, drinking water or shelter, leading Trump to sharply criticize US President Joe Biden and his vice president, Harris.
Biden and Harris have rejected the allegations, accusing Trump of spreading misinformation about the response for political gain.
"There's been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies," Biden said after Helene and before a second major storm, Milton, slammed into Florida.
As of Sunday, power had been restored to most of North Carolina, barring about 5,000 customers in remote western counties, according to poweroutage.us.
Schools are due to reopen in some of the hardest hit areas this week, and municipal services say water supply has been restored in many areas -- although some continue to face "boil water" advisories.
Shelley Hughes, 64, lives near the city of Asheville, and said as of Friday the water at her residence was "still brownish (in) color."
"It still kind of looks like, I guess, for lack of a better word, like a war zone," she said of her town of Swannanoa.
Harris and Trump are virtually tied in the battleground states, according to a New York Times polling average, and North Carolina is no different -- Harris stood at 49 percent in the state, to Trump's 48 percent, on Sunday.
Early voting is already underway in several states, including North Carolina, where more than a million people had cast their ballots as of Sunday, according to official data.
- 'Deserve better' -
Harris on Sunday appeared to acknowledge the closeness of the race, saying she would leave "nothing on the field" in her push to win the election.
The 60-year-old -- who celebrated her birthday on Sunday -- also lambasted Trump's increasingly disparaging language on the trail, saying in an interview on MSNBC that Americans "deserve so much better."
"Donald Trump should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States. He has not earned the right," Harris said.
Trump's campaign has painted a dark image of a United States gripped by crime and illegal immigration, describing some undocumented migrants as animals and accusing them of "invading" the country.
At campaign events, he has increasingly gone off-script, using bizarre and sometimes expletive-laden language -- often to the delight of his supporters.
Harris -- almost 18 years Trump's junior -- has increasingly drawn attention to the former president's age, raising questions about his fitness to serve for a second term.
On Sunday, Trump insisted his age was not slowing him down, telling a Pennsylvania town hall that "we've had some of the greatest leaders in world history that are in their 80s."
Harris says Trump 'demeans' office of US president after use of expletive
Kamala Harris on Sunday said her election rival Donald Trump "demeans" the office of the president with his use of coarse language, a day after the Republican insulted her using an expletive.
Speaking in an interview aired on US broadcaster MSNBC, Harris said Trump's comment was an insult to the office and degraded the United States' moral authority internationally.
"What you see in my opponent, a former president of the United States, really it demeans the office," she said, in response to a question about the comments.
Addressing a rally in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump referred to Harris as "a shit vice president," to roars of approval from his supporters.
With just over two weeks to go until Election Day, polls show Harris and Trump are locked in a neck-and-neck race for the presidency, including in the key swing states that decide US elections.
Trump has increasingly gone off-script during campaign events, using coarse and sometimes bizarre language.
During the same event in Pennsylvania on Saturday, he referred to the genitalia of a famous male golfer.
Harris told MSNBC the former president should not be allowed to lead the country again.
"Donald Trump should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States. He has not earned the right," she said.
Trump's comments, she added, degraded the United States' "earned and self-appointed authority" to speak on issues such as democracy and the rule of law.
The 78-year-old's campaign has been marked by the use of strong language and claims that are often divorced from reality, especially on the key election issue of immigration.
He has likened undocumented migrants to animals, threatened revenge against his perceived enemies, praised autocrats like Vladimir Putin of Russia and described the United States as a ruined nation only he can fix.
