Obama to Visit Louisiana in Isaac’s Wake
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — President Obama will visit Louisiana on Monday to assess the damage in the wake of Hurricane Isaac, the White House announced Friday.
“Our hearts are obviously with all the folks who are down in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast who are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac. Our prayers are with those who’ve lost loved ones. And I’ve directed the federal government to keep doing everything that it can to help our partners at the state and local level. As a country, we stand united with our fellow Americans in their hour of need,” the president told troops at Fort Bliss Friday.
The White House announced the upcoming trip just hours before newly-minted GOP nominee Mitt Romney visited New Orleans to survey the aftermath of the storm.
In a last-minute change of plans, Romney traveled Friday to Louisiana where he met with the state’s Gov. Bobby Jindal and observed the damage caused by the storm. He had initially planned to rally in Virginia with his running mate, Paul Ryan.
“I’m here to learn and obviously to draw some attention to what’s going here,” Romney told Jindal. “So that people around the country know that people down here need help.”
Romney spent 45-minutes in a closed-door meeting with Jindal, Sen. David Vitter and other local officials before emerging and meeting with several locals who appeared to be displaced after the storm.
According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, the decision for the president to travel to Louisiana was made prior to Romney’s announcement about his trip Friday.
Asked about Romney’s visit, Carney said, “I think that it’s always important to draw attention to the fact that individuals and families and business owners are profoundly affected by storms like Isaac, and that’s an important thing to do.”
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