Harris is traveling to North Carolina to resume campaigning in a state hit hard by Hurricane Helene

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris Her campaign says she will meet with black leaders in North Carolina on Saturday, go to church and hold a rally in the state on Sunday.

The weekend trip is their second to the embattled state after it was hit Hurricane Helenewith Harris returning to campaign mode at a point Democrats see as a potential boost in the November election. North Carolina narrowly supported the Republicans Donald Trump in 2020.

The Democratic presidential candidate went to North Carolina last week to assess the destruction caused by Helene and promise help to the victims. She was scheduled to attend church Sunday in Greenville, a city of about 90,000 people in the state's coastal plain, as part of her “Souls to the Polls” campaign.

Before leaving the Washington area, Harris told reporters accompanying her that she was looking forward to speaking with residents, “primarily to see how they are doing after the hurricane.” She also said , she will talk about her plan to create an “opportunity economy.”

Democrats expect North Carolina to go their way this year with its base of black and college-educated voters, as well as women concerned about losing Abortion protection. But the aftermath of Hurricane Helene has become a political flashpoint as former President Trump and his allies attack the Biden administration's response to the natural disaster.

Later Saturday, Harris will meet with local Black elected officials, faith and community leaders at a Raleigh restaurant and help volunteers prepare supplies for hurricane victims.

After Sunday's service, Harris plans to speak about the economy at a campaign event to drum up support for early voting, which begins Thursday in North Carolina.

When Hurricane Helene made landfall on September 26, about 230 people died and knocked out roads, power and cell phone networks. Just two weeks later, Hurricane Milton hit Florida this week, causing an estimated $50 billion in damage and causing multiple deaths.

Harris also visited Georgia after Helene struck there, in addition to attending virtual briefings on the federal government's response and revising her campaign plan. But she has continued to travel for the presidential election and spent time doing so this week Nevada and Arizona.

One of her key messages was that there should be no price gouging by companies seeking to take advantage of the shortages caused by the hurricanes – an issue she has made central to her campaign as a way to combat inflation.

“We will keep an eye on any company or individual that takes advantage of this crisis to inflate prices through illegal fraud or price gouging, whether at the gas pump, at the airport or at the hotel counter, and there will be consequences,” Harris said at Friday's briefing.

But Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid went to immigrants rather than hurricane victims, while suggesting that people are not receiving the full financial assistance to which they are legally entitled.

At a recent rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, Trump said the reaction was worse than in 2005 Hurricane Katrinawhich killed nearly 1,400 people and caused $200 billion in damage.

“North Carolina has been hit very hard and this administration has not done a real job at all. “Terrible, terrible,” Trump said at the rally, adding that Harris was “on a fundraising comedy tour while people are stranded and drowning all over some of our greatest states.”

President Joe Biden has called Trump's falsehoods about the administration's response “un-American” and told his predecessor to “live a life, man.”