John Bel Edwards says people around the US are just starting to pay attention to the extent of flooding that killed at least 13 people in the state.
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An editorial in the newspaper, the largest in Louisiana, on Thursday asked that Obama visit the state before his vacation ends Sunday in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., saying the president should “back his bags now” and leave the “playground for the posh and well connected”.
Asked by Trump about whether he’ll rebuild, Jimmy Morgan replied: “I Just don’t know what we’ll do”.
“You mischaracterized what I said”, he continued.
The White House visit comes four days after Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence (R-Indiana), toured the disaster area.
President Obama is traveling to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to view the situation first hand, and has received some criticism for not visiting sooner.
Edwards said he suggested to Obama and presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett that they delay a trip until the initial disaster response was over and recovery efforts had started.
After Trump and Pence toured the flood damage, they went to Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, to meet with Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, and Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, an worldwide Christian relief organization.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, had released a statement before the GOP nominee’s visit decrying a “photo-op”, but Edwards told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday that Trump had always been welcome if he were coming to be “helpful”. He said he “tried not to comment” on Trump’s visit to avoid getting “tied up in the politics”.
“The very best way this team can help is to make sure Louisianans have the resources they need”, she said.
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“We are not here to say we think the president should have come”, Kovacs also told Fox News. And she said the state’s relief effort “can’t afford any distractions”.
