Former Obama adviser David Axelrod implied that “liberal voters” in Asheville, North Carolina, would “figure a way to vote,” despite the damage from Hurricane Helene, while Trump voters would not.
During an episode of the podcast Hacks on Tap, Axelrod spoke about Hurricane Helene and how places such as Asheville, in western North Carolina, had been affected by heavy rainfall and flooding, noting that there was “a lot of displacement” as a result.
Axelrod described North Carolina as being the “second most rural state” in the United States.
“Here’s my question about North Carolina, you had these killer storms, which by the way was a third big story this week,” Axelrod said. “And, there’s a lot of displacement in western North Carolina. Now, Asheville is a blue dot.”
Axelrod continued to describe the voters in Asheville as being “upscale, kind of liberal voters” who would “figure out a way to vote.”
“I’m not sure a bunch of these folks who had their homes and lives destroyed elsewhere in western North Carolina — in the mountains there — are going to be as easy to wrangle for the Trump campaign,” Axelrod added.
Axelrod admitted that he was unsure about how this would “all play out” and noted it is an “unpredictable element in North Carolina” that makes the presidential election “interesting.”
Several people responded to Axelrod’s comments, describing them as “abjectly disgusting” and “truly sinister.”
“In between laughing at the false claim that JD Vance was wearing eyeliner at the VP debate, Obama-Harris whisperer David Axelrod said on his podcast that Hurricane Helene’s victims are mainly Trump voters who will find it hard to vote,” Miranda Devine, a journalist with the New York Post, wrote in a post on X. “Affected Democrats from Asheville are ‘upscale liberal voters, and they’re probably going to figure out a way to vote. I’m not sure a bunch of these folks who had their homes and lives destroyed elsewhere, in western North Carolina, in the mountains, there are going to be as easy to wrangle for the Trump campaign.'”
“Did ya know that famous Democrat operative David Axelrod figures city Democrats are smarter and more resourceful and will figure out how to vote whereas the dumb Trump deplorable up in the mountains of NC who just lost everything, won’t,” radio host Tammy Bruce wroted in a post on X. “Was he on the verge of Kamala cackle?”
“Abjectly disgusting,” David Marcus, a columnist with Fox News wrote in a post. “Democrats have lost their minds. Nothing is unacceptable if it’s against Trump. No rules, no decorum. It’s frightening.”
“This is truly sinister stuff,” Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump wrote in a post.
Several places in western North Carolina such as Asheville, and the village of Chimney Rock, and communities in eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, Georgia, and Florida were affected by Hurricane Helene.
Photos posted to social media showed massive flooding and damage to buildings and homes in Asheville. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, several roads were damaged and impassable, and several places, such as Asheville, were left without power or cell phone service.
