DETROIT >> Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House criticized Donald Trump for his attacks on the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton and suggested he was wrongly trying to turn the deadly storms to his political advantage.

Attending a town hall sponsored by Univision in Las Vegas, Harris was asked about complaints that federal officials have bungled disaster recovery efforts. She responded, “In this crisis — like in so many issues that affect the people of our country — I think it so important that leadership recognizes the dignity” to which people are entitled.

“I have to stress that this is not a time for people to play politics,” Harris added.

Those comments came after the former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, offering sympathy to people affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the latter of which came ashore in Florida Wednesday night. But Trump also suggested that the Biden administration’s response had been lacking, particularly in North Carolina after Helene.

“They’ve let those people suffer unjustly,” said Trump, who has for several days promoted falsehoods about the federal response.

Harris virtually attended a briefing, held in the White House Situation Room with President Joe Biden, on emergency efforts in Milton’s wake. In subsequent comments to reporters, Biden slammed Trump for spreading misinformation about federal assistance available to victims, including falsely claiming that it was capped at $750. In reality, that is just for immediate needs, the first potential payout rather than the total.

“That $750 that they’re talking about, Mr. Trump and all those other people know it’s a lie to suggest that’s all they’re going to get,” Biden said Thursday. “It’s just bizarre. They got to stop this. They’re being so damn un-American with the way they’re talking about this stuff.”

Asked if he planned to speak with Trump to urge him to stop, Biden said no, but followed that with a message he delivered directly into television cameras: “Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life, man. Help these people.”

Despite the storm, Trump and Harris are both visiting key swing states strategically.

In Michigan, where he’s looking to appeal to primarily to blue-collar voters, Trump took a swipe at the city he happened to be campaigning in, suggesting that Detroit was “a mess.”

“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” he said of Harris. “You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

Trump’s economic speech featured multiple errors

The former president used his appearance at the Detroit Economic Club to echo core themes from his 2016 campaign, saying some other countries, especially China, are ripping the U.S. off and taking manufacturing business away. Trump said powerful companies have “raped” the United States. He vowed to impose huge tariffs that he said would force other countries to negotiate what they charge on American products.

“They’ve been screwing us for so many years that we’re allowed to get some of that back,” Trump said about charging tariffs from countries.

Economists warn Trump’s proposed tariffs would drive up consumer costs. Trump has also claimed, without providing specifics, that he can use tariffs to reduce the U.S. budget deficit and pay for an expansion of childcare funding, even as he proposes other ideas without saying how he would replace the lost funding.