(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy asserted that the floods caused by Hurricane Helene could hinder the mailing and counting of ballots from Republican voters ahead of the November election.
Politico reported Friday roughly 40,000 ballots were mailed to voters in Republican strongholds in North Carolina and Georgia before Hurricane Helene ravaged these swing states. Only 1,000 of those ballots have been returned.
During an interview with Fox News’s Laura Ingraham, McCarthy was asked whether he believed the federal government would ensure those ballots were cast and counted.
“Well, I doubt that because they are not even hard at work making sure those people are still alive or they get resources,” McCarthy replied on the Friday edition of Ingraham Angle. “They don’t even have electricity. They don’t even have the ability—if it wasn’t for Elon Musk—they wouldn’t be able to know what is going on right now.”
The former speaker’s comments followed Politico’s report that parts of western North Carolina and eastern Georgia—both areas he decisively won in 2020—were flooded by the relentless rain of Hurricane Helene.
Both states, carrying 16 electoral votes each, are considered battlegrounds in 2024. Current polls show that Trump leads Harris by about 1 percentage point.
If Republicans in the affected areas do not turn out to vote, Harris could potentially win those states and the election.
McCarthy suggested that Americans in the affected regions are still grappling with the hurricane’s effects. “I talked to many of them along the way,” he stated, before pointing out a Gallup poll that delivered troubling news for Democrats.
“Gallup poll just came back last week. It’s an interesting one. It doesn’t ask who you are going to vote for. It asks, ‘Who do you identify with? Republican or Democrat?’ And for the first time Republicans won by more than 3 points, 48-45,” McCarthy said.
“They asked another question: ‘Who is best to solve the problems in the future?’ Republicans, again. I will tell you President Trump is rising,” the former speaker added.
