Angry Joe Biden rips 'lying' Trump for criticizing his Hurricane Helene response and defends spending weekend at the beach

A indignant President Joe Biden blasted Donald Trump for claiming he was giving the stiff-arm to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp over hurricane relief Monday and accused his rival of lying.

He hit back amid the ultra high-stakes clash over storm recovery, with Trump jetting to Georgia and claiming Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were mismanaging the crisis. He even said Biden was blowing off a key figure in the response, Kemp – an occasional Trump critic who is supporting his campaign. 

'He's been calling the president, he hasn't been able to get him,' Trump claimed on a trip to Valdosta, Georgia.

That comment was directly contradicted by Kemp's own comments Monday about his conversation with Biden Sunday, and Biden teed off on his rival when he got asked about it. 

'He's lying, and the governor told him he was lying. The governor told him he's lying. I've spoken to the governor, spent time with him, and he told him he's lying. I don't know why he does it … that's simply not true, and it's irresponsible,' Biden said. 

He also defended his decision to spend most of the weekend in Delaware even as the wrath of the storm was unfolding.

'Come on. Stop with the game will you,' he fumed at a reporter who asked about it. He said where he lived 'it’s '90 miles from here, okay. And I was on the phone the whole time,' Biden said.

He also defended the positioning of resources before the storm, which had impacts far beyond Florida where it made landfall. 'It's hard to get it form Point A to Point B,' he said, mentioning impassable roads and other challenges. 'If I sound frustrated, I am,' he said.

Biden had also defended the trip earlier in the day when he got asked 'Why weren’t you and Vice President Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?' 

'I was commanding it. I was on the phone for at least two hours yesterday and the day before as well. I commanded it,' he said, before snapping: 'It’s called a telephone.'

Trump levelled the accusation while getting the jump on a visit to tour hurricane damage, with two politically crucial states – Georgia and North Carolina – getting hammered by the storm with the death count mounting and massive damage.

'The president just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and I called him right back,' Kemp said. 'And he just said, "Hey, what do you need?"' 

Biden had earlier taken a preventive shot by saying he didn't want to do anything to disrupt recovery efforts, and the White House spoke to the large 'footprint' the president brings on such a visit. Trump also brings a phalanx of security with him when he travels.

'I also want you to know I'm committed to traveling to impacted areas as soon as possible. But, I've been told that it'd be disruptive if I did it right now, we will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any, any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis,' Biden said Monday morning. 'My first responsibility is to get all the help needed to those impacted areas.'

By the evening, Biden announced that he would go to North Carolina Wednesday. 

Harris, meanwhile, flew back to Washington from a West Coast swing Monday, cancelling some scheduled campaign events and attending a FEMA briefing. 

Trump, a New York transplant who now lives in Florida, is well versed in the long line of politicians who have seen an election season storm reshuffle a race.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's embrace of Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy is widely seen as giving a boost to the Democrat's reelection. Former New York Mayor John Lindsay lost a Republican primary following a winter snowstorm. And George W. Bush's popularity tanked after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.