'Trump first and America last': Post-storm Georgia stump speech shocks angry critics

Former President Donald Trump's campaign event in a hurricane-ravaged Georgia city spurred outrage from critics who said he drew on local resources badly needed elsewhere.

CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane triggered a wave of fury on X Monday afternoon as he detailed the impact Hurricane Helene had on Valdosta before Trump's arrival.

"Heavy police presence and wide perimeter here in Valdosta, Ga — where Trump is planning campaign stop in front of this damage," MacFarlane wrote. "Power is out for days in this community...One restaurant owner told me: They’re ambivalent about 'dignitary visits right now.'"

MacFarlane reported that Valdosta's traffic lights were out, trees were down, roofs shredded and restaurants reduced to serving food on the streets after the deadly hurricane made landfall in northern Florida Thursday night and claimed 116 lives, according to NBC News’ count.

Trump during his speech on Monday criticized President Joe Biden and claimed he'd been out of touch with local lawmakers — just hours after Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) thanked the commander-in-chief for an offer of support.

While Trump supporters praised the former president for providing support to the storm-sacked city, critics argued it wasn't worth the price.

Rex Chapman, the social media influencer and former NBA basketball player, slammed the former president for drawing local police to his campaign.

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"How selfish do you have to be to use up first responders resources for a photo-op while people are hurting?" Chapman wrote.

The Lincoln Project, a political group of never-Trump Republicans, echoed Chapman's concerns before the event even began.

"Authorities there will have to clear roads for his photo opps instead of doing essential service work for the residents and businesses there," the groupwrote on X. "This is all Trump knows - using the tragedy of others to prop himself up."

Attorney Adam Cohen, a board member of the group Lawyers for Good Government, expressed a lack of surprise at the Republican presidential nominee's decision to campaign in Georgia after the hurricane.

"How many emergency relief workers in Valdosta, Georgia Won’t be able to help people [b]ecause they have to deal with this buffoon," Cohen wrote. "It’s always Trump first [a]nd America last."