Trump tours devastation in Western NC (01-24-2025--Hour2)

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[00:00:28] President Donald Trump arrived in North Carolina. He was, in fact, greeted on the tarmac by North Carolina Governor Josh Stein. He then proceeded to tour some of the devastated areas in Swannanoa, which is a town just outside of Asheville. You've heard me mention Swannanoa repeatedly in the last four months since the Hurricane Helene ripped through that area because Swannanoa is the location,

[00:00:58] of an organization's headquarters called Hearts with Hands. It's a disaster relief organization. And so they are based right there. And they mobilized immediately. Their warehouse was spared, actually. So all of their equipment and supplies and stuff they could immediately deploy. And they are a good organization. I've donated money to them. If you're looking for one to donate to, heartswithhands.org. So that's Swannanoa. That's where the president is. I've,

[00:01:28] gone to the beginning of the comments here. They've got a podium set up and looks like Reverend Franklin Graham starts off the, starts, starts off the comments. Trump is there. Melania is there. And then there are a bunch of local residents that are with him. Okay. So here he goes. He's walking, I think, up to the,

[00:01:52] up to the lectern. There's some more people standing behind the lectern. They're in front of a house that's just been, just destroyed. There's a, an RV off to the side of it as well. Franklin Graham is shaking people's hands. One, two, three, four, five, five, looks like about, it's probably about 10 to 12, uh, local folks that he's, you know, walking down the line, shaking their hands. Yeah.

[00:02:24] All right. Here's Franklin Graham. It's a great, um, honor to be, uh, here with these people today that have suffered so much. And, um, to lose everything you have and you just wonder what you're going to do and where are you going to go.

[00:02:48] And we just thank God. And that's one of the, I want to say, thank God that, uh, he's given us the resources to be able to help. And a lot of people have helped and not just Samaritan's Purse, but there's been many different organizations and volunteers that have just come to Western North Carolina and East Tennessee to help. Uh, I grew up, this is my backyard. I grew up about, uh, eight miles or so from here. And, uh, a lot of, went to high school right down the road, about a mile down the road.

[00:03:18] And so this is, this is home to me, but we've got a family today and we've got the West family. Uh, there, this is their house. So we're here today, uh, to show the president, uh, just a little bit of the, the damage and the problems, uh, that the people of Western North Carolina are facing.

[00:03:45] So Mr. President, thank you for what you have done for Western North Carolina. Thank you for coming again to see. Thank you. Your, your, your son, Don Jr. He came with us twice. And so they've taken a real interest. And this isn't a, a politician coming down here looking for votes. This is a man who wants to do something, who wants to see some changes, who wants to make, who will make life better for you. So thank you.

[00:04:14] And Melania, thank you so much for coming. It's an honor to have you here with us. So Mr. President, please. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Good man. He's done a great job. Fantastic job. And we've come to North Carolina with a simple message for all the people of this region who were hit so hard by Hurricane Helene. And that message is very simple. You are not forgotten any longer.

[00:04:42] You were treated very badly by the previous administration. And I'm here after a few days of the administration. We're going to California, Los Angeles. They got hit hard, as you know. A lot of that could have been prevented, I think, if they had water, which they had plenty of, but they didn't use it. But I'm going there. But we set up to go there. And I said, well, what about North Carolina? They said, well, what would you like? I said, I have to stop there first. I'm stopping in North Carolina.

[00:05:11] So we made the stop. And I feel very good. You're represented by some great people. Great, great congressmen are with us. And we're going to get involved with them. And Michael Watley is here, who is the head of the Republican Party. He worked with Laura Trump to take us through to a tremendous victory. One of the, as the media says, one of the most consequential presidential elections ever. They say in 129 years, whatever that may mean.

[00:05:41] But whatever it is, it was a great election we had. And we won your state all three times we won your state. And all three primaries we won your state. So we won it six times, I guess, Mr. Congressman. And it's a great place. And I wanted to come here before I went anywhere, frankly. And the campaign, I promised that I'd come back to Western North Carolina to help the people of the state. And today, here I am to deliver on that promise. And we have a lot of things in mind.

[00:06:09] And we're getting the Army Corps of Engineers all set. You need your riverbanks fixed. You need a lot of roads fixed. And we're going to get it done in rapid time. And I've asked Susie Wiles and all of my people to start calling up, get the Corps ready. And they're going to get ready to go. I don't know what it is. I don't know what took so long for the other administration. But remember, I wasn't here for the first four months or three months, whatever it may be.

[00:06:36] See, we can only start as of essentially one or two days ago. And we've made a lot of progress over the last couple of days, Michael. I understand we're going to get you the resources you need and the support that you deserve. And we'll be at your side through every step of the rebuilding. And no American is going to be left behind. The people that I just met are so great. And the people that own that house, that house is going to be very beautiful in a little while.

[00:07:03] And who knows if Franklin decides, maybe he'll rip it down and build him a new one. Because sometimes you can do that just as easily. But we're going to take care of the people. I want to thank our great first lady for coming today. She really wanted to be here. She said, no, I want to go. And, you know, she sees what happened. And she felt very badly. And she wanted to go. And we're then going out together to Los Angeles. But she wanted to be in North Carolina. She saw what happened. She has a feeling like I do for North Carolina.

[00:07:33] So thanks as well to a great gentleman, Franklin Graham. And his father, Billy Graham. I used to go with my father to Yankee Stadium and places to watch his father preach. And he was some preacher. Where is your preacher? You got good stock. You come from the ultimate genes, I can tell you. But he was really something. And Franklin, though, has done so much. And his father is looking down on him right now.

[00:08:00] I guarantee for a long time he's been looking down on Franklin saying, I'm very proud of you, son. He really is. Because what Franklin's done with Samaritan's Purse is incredible. They told me just yesterday that Samaritan's Purse has been great. But the FEMA people sort of left you high and dry. But we're going to change that around. We're not happy with FEMA. As well as all of the representatives. You have great representatives here. Chuck Edwards, who's here someplace. Where's Chuck? Where's Chuck? Chuck.

[00:08:30] Tim Moore. Tim, thank you, Tim. Great job, too. Both of you guys. Virginia Foxx. A power. She's a power, that one. Don't ever have her as your enemy. It's not good. It's not healthy. Pat Harrigan. Good job, Pat. Addison McDowell. These guys were just here, just put in. And they're doing a fantastic job. Addison, thank you very much. Great. Mark Harris. Thank you, Mark.

[00:08:59] Thank you, Mark. Brad Knott. Thank you, Brad. Greg Murphy. Fantastic guy. My friend for a long time now, right? And the RNC chairman, Michael Watley, who really, as I said, brought us to a great victory with Lara, the chairman of the party, the whole Republican. I took Michael Watley from North Carolina because he did the best job and put him in charge of everything. And the job they did together was incredible.

[00:09:28] Last September, Hurricane Helene became one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern American history. Three rainfall rose to far more than 30 inches, which is lethal, unleashing unprecedented devastation throughout Western North Carolina and many other states, as you know. But you got hit the hardest. All right. I'm going to pause it right there and we'll pick it back up in a minute. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in Western North Carolina,

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[00:10:52] And they have pet-friendly accommodations. Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. All right, let's pick up where we left off. We are running them back so we can hear what he had to say out there and his plans for FEMA and his plans to help the people of Western North Carolina. The responsibility and deepest obligation of the American government is to protect its people.

[00:11:20] And that's never truer than in times of emergency like this. Unfortunately, our government failed you. But it wasn't the Trump government. It was a government run by Biden. What a terrible situation. But our government failed. The people of North Carolina in this horrible crisis. For two months, Asheville lacked running water. And even today, some North Carolinians can't take a hot water shower.

[00:11:49] They can't drink water. They don't know where to get it. They have to. It's delivered to them by some or they just go out and somehow find some. It's been four months since the storm made landfill. And still 180 roads remain closed. And in ruins earlier this month, the Biden administration kicked 2,000 displaced North Carolinians out of their temporary housing into freezing 20 degree weather. I don't know how they did that one because it was cold.

[00:12:18] Even while your government provided shelter and housing for illegal aliens from all over the world. But under the Trump administration, the days of betrayal and neglect are over. They are over. As I said in my inaugural address, we restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of the American government. And I think I said most of it in the inaugural address. We said a lot of things.

[00:12:45] But one of the groups of people I was thinking about is you in North Carolina. A lot of that was in reference to you and what you've had to suffer. I'm pleased to announce that under our leadership, the federal government will be surging housing solutions to this state that go beyond mere temporary hotel stays that ended up being very short term. The government wouldn't do it any longer, which is ridiculous.

[00:13:10] We'll marshal all available resources that bring back potable water and make your water and infrastructure dramatically more reliable very quickly. Today, I'll also be signing an executive order slashing all red tape and bureaucratic barriers and permits to ensure the rapid reconstruction of the roads here in Western North Carolina. We're going to go through a permitting process that's called no permitting. Just get it done. That's the way they built them many years ago.

[00:13:40] I guarantee you that. Right. We will get them back very quickly and we'll begin the work of fundamentally changing, terminating or overhauling FEMA. FEMA has been a disaster no matter where they are. We're honored to be joined today very quickly by several families affected by the vicious storm. I'd like to ask each of them to share their story. Chris and Kim West, you could come forward. Ramona.

[00:14:05] All right, I'm going to stop there because at this point he turns the microphone and the podium over to like three or four different families and he just lets them talk. And I would point out here as we were watching this occur, we looked over at the other TV, the other monitor here in the studio and CNN. It's not covering this live.

[00:14:33] CNN is instead showing the behind the scenes story of the giant pandas at the D.C. Zoo. That was literally the story that they were covering rather than the president's visit to Western North Carolina. Now, I don't know if they're going to cover his visit to Los Angeles. If I was a betting man, I'd say yes, but maybe not because it's Trump.

[00:15:02] After that story, they went back to their studio to discuss in depth. The deportations of criminal aliens. Those were the stories that they decided were more worthy of your attention as a CNN viewer, as an American CNN viewer, than the people of Western North Carolina that four months later still are living in tents. All right. I hope you had a happy holiday season. But tell me if something like this happened at your house, your family and friends are gathered around.

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[00:16:31] President Donald Trump went to Western North Carolina. He wrapped up remarks. They lasted, I think it was about 25, yeah, 25, 30 minutes or so. He wrapped up about half an hour ago. We're listening back to it.

[00:16:46] He has made his opening remarks, and now he has turned over the mic to, or he's turning over the microphone to a couple of families that are there with him, standing around him, so they could tell their stories to the media that is in tow. To get the word out about what has occurred to them. Next, Jackie Mitchell and Thomas Gary Bright. And finally, the Wright family.

[00:17:13] And come on up and maybe say a few words. Please, thank you very much. Hello. Hi. Come on in here. So Trump adjusting the microphone for, this is Kim West, I believe. Whenever it started, we started moving our vehicles to the top of the road. And by the time we got the vehicles moved, the water had already hit our ankles in the house.

[00:17:41] And so I grabbed my purse and my little pug dog, and my husband grabbed the dog food and put it in a trash bag. And by the time we got out into the driveway, it was already waist deep, and there were sticks and that kind of thing. I didn't think I was going to make it, but we did make it out, and we made it to the top of the road,

[00:18:09] and we were kind of stuck there for hours because we couldn't get out any of the ways because it was flooded all the way around. It took us hours, and we sat there, and finally it receded enough to where we could actually get out. It was probably like close to midnight, and it started like 5, 6 o'clock in the morning. We just lost everything that we had.

[00:18:37] We didn't even have a brush for like three days. So, thank you. Would you like to say something with that beautiful baby? Say, hey. Yeah, so when the hurricane storms hit North Carolina hit our home, my daughter and my wife and I were actually out of town.

[00:19:04] But unfortunately, my dad was still at home, and my mother was staying at our house with our animals. And the water got so high that it actually lifted between that and the tornado that came through, or microburst is what they've been calling them, and lifted his home and the house that I grew up in and crashed it into our barn. It took away his business.

[00:19:29] It took away all of her tools and tractors and everything needed to keep the farm going. And my mother was trapped in the house, and there was no way to escape because the water got so high. The only thing she could do was ride it out and wait until the water came down. So, we've been doing a little bit of battling with our insurance and FEMA. We did have proper insurance with flood insurance and homeowners insurance.

[00:19:57] But since we had proper insurance, FEMA's not been able to assist us with a whole lot of things. And again, we've been having some issues with trying to get some payout for our insurance in a timely manner. We had to do mold mitigation on our home, which is extremely expensive, before the structural engineer even came out in order to get our flood payout. And to me, that was not really acceptable.

[00:20:25] Has the insurance company been responsive or not relevant? Not so much. You know, again... Are they going to give you the money they have to give you? I'm hoping so. And we need some assistance with that. We reached out to an attorney. What's the name of the insurance company? North Carolina Farm Bureau. Oh! We're going to move them, right? Yep. That's terrible. That's what we're after here. Are a lot of people having that problem, too? With insurance companies in general? Different insurance companies?

[00:20:55] And they're all difficult or just one particular one? I've heard different stories from others and a lot of folks are... Have you heard some more responses? And I've heard some good instances of even Farm Bureau themselves. But in my case, you know, they'd sent out a third-party adjuster immediately. Well, they wound up firing that third-party adjuster group. And he gave us a quote for a much higher estimate than what we received. And he got fired? And then he got let go. Yeah, he got fired.

[00:21:23] So then they brought in another third-party adjuster to come in and lowball us. We've not received any kind of... So the flood insurance is our primary insurance. And so there was roof leaks in the home that the inspectors found, the adjusters. Well, that contributed to us losing some of our personal properties that come in the third-story where there's no... Or second-story living space. We're well above the floodwaters.

[00:21:53] So they've neglected us for... Your mother saved? Yes. Yeah, she saved. She's right here. Okay. So we... Yeah, we made it. Not exciting, right? That's right. How scared were you? Very. You thought... Did you think you were going to make it? No. You didn't think so? No. I just started praying. So you were sort of on a boat. Your house became a boat. It's a big pontoon. That's some story. It was a beach house on the steps.

[00:22:21] I'll bet this guy would like to say something. I was next door to the house. And my son was out of town. So when he came in to Charlotte to my sisters, he called about two in the morning. Right. Because at midnight, the water was still in the stream. Right. And then the banks.

[00:22:48] So when he called, the water was coming up. So I started moving vehicles up to about 530 in the morning. And she was in the house. And I pulled up to the steps. And I said, hop on the fender and I'll get you out. Well, he built a beach house on stills. Five times higher than the floodplain. And she said, well...

[00:23:18] He said, I'd be okay. So I'm staying with the dogs. So I went to high ground with some vehicles, hers included. And the water covered everything. But I'd already seen it come around both sides of my place. So I got my blind and deaf dog and a bag of valuables. And took up off the side of the hill behind my house.

[00:23:47] And then was heading to the cemetery back there because I knew it was open. Because there was trees falling and uprooting. It was raining. You never saw anything like that? No. No, I've been through floods all my life around there. Never been. Never been. Mm-mm. But you're okay, right? Yep. The house was destroyed.

[00:24:17] I appreciate it. You're cool. You're cool. Thanks for being here. Anybody else? You guys are okay? All right. I'm going to stop right there. There's one more, I think, individual he's about to tell his story. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why? Well, because it's how you detect media bias. Which is why I've been so impressed with Ground News. It's an app. And it's a website.

[00:24:46] And it combines news from around the world in one place. So you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using Ground News a few months ago. And more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate. Because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered. And by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself.

[00:25:15] Check.ground.news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link. And you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast. But it also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Listening to the news conference being held in Swannanoa. That's Western North Carolina. President Trump has been visiting. Touring the area a little bit. And talking with families. And he's giving them microphone time.

[00:25:45] At this media availability. To let them tell their stories to the national press. Here's the third family. Or fourth family I guess that came to the mic. Our day that morning began a little taller. With some trees falling into our house. Which our house goes back four generations. Eighty years. And never came close to flooding. And we woke up with trees about 4.30 or 5 in the morning.

[00:26:15] And our house sits three-tenths of a mile back off the road. And the water. You know we've had flooding and such in the lake. But nothing like we saw. And like most everybody else. We moved five vehicles this far up. Lawn mowers and everything else. And the water started coming in the house. And when it got up to about ankle high. We have a loft. I got her up in that. And tried to gather what you might want. Which was totally random.

[00:26:43] And when it made it to the loft. And started getting up to about our hips. I built a little makeshift ladder. And we got out on our roof. And we spent four hours on the roof. I had a little baggie. I did notes on my cell phone. To my two kids and my two grandkids. And something to identify me. In case we were lost in it. Did you think you were going to make it? No. Oh you didn't? Yeah we didn't think we were going to make it at all. I mean our house was 25 feet underwater.

[00:27:12] So you didn't think you were going to live? No we were watching houses, trailers, bodies coming by us. And we lived in the Azalea Road area in East Asheville. We watched our garage float by. We just lift up. Yeah. But we got to a point where it crested about four feet up on the roof. We took about three or four hours for it so we could kind of do everything in reverse.

[00:27:41] And got out in the mud to higher ground. And I got out higher ground up to the subway and got over to her daughter's house. Where when she saw that I didn't have her, she lost it. And I was like she's okay. She's alive. And we tried to make our way back in there and gather things best we could. But found a body right away. We had about eight bodies in our area that first two weeks located. And we were lucky we weren't one of them and blessed.

[00:28:11] But like other people, no insurance on flood insurance. So we had to depend on FEMA. They did what they could do. And, of course, it's not enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy. Yeah, that's crazy. But, again, we're thankful to be alive. But it's a long haul. What are you doing now? Staying in the camper. I've never been. If you all have noticed, I'm a big guy. I don't sleep in campers very well. And the first night we spent in the camper, very grateful with the Asheville Dream Center coming through with one.

[00:28:41] Do you still have the land? Oh, yeah. It's family land. The land, it looks like a beach now. It's sand. Can it be built on? Yes. Do you intend to do that? Yes. You want to build it again? Yeah, Samaritan's Purse. We're working with them. We're working with people. You know, it's 80 years, four generations. But the house is totally done? No, the house is there. It's down to it. They came in and mudded it. But everything in it was completely destroyed. But, yeah, it's tough. I think we're at a point in Asheville where people forgot about Asheville.

[00:29:12] And it's stagnant. Everything is stopped. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So these are personal testimonials from various families. I think there's another woman there that speaks as well. And Trump said it at the very beginning.

[00:29:39] He said, we're going to get you all the resources you need. And he said, we're going to slash red tape, remove bureaucratic barriers, and remove permitting to get stuff built. He said the Army Corps of Engineers has been dispatched. He said, I don't know why this hasn't been done. And he says, the government failed the people of North Carolina.

[00:30:07] But the days of betrayal and neglect are over. All right. That'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepcalendorshow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening. And don't break anything while I'm gone.