Former President Donald Trump said President Joe Biden was going “out of the way,” to not help people in Republican areas, among other comments against Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and the federal response to Hurricane Helene.

On Tuesday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Biden told him in a phone call that whatever the state needs to let him know.

“It has been superb,” McMaster said when asked about federal assistance South Carolina was receiving.

Biden has declared a federal disaster for South Carolina, which allows federal money to come into the state for costs related to Hurricane Helene and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has an employee working at the state’s Emergency Management Division to help coordinate response efforts.

McMaster said he played a little phone tag with the president before the two connected Monday afternoon.

“He said whatever we need to let him know and we’re doing that,” McMaster told reporters at a press briefing Tuesday. ”We’re getting assistance and were asking for everything we need.”

The governor added that he also spoke to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Trump has made a series of misleading and false claims about aid to states in the aftermath of Helene, which has caused widespread destruction across the Carolinas and a climbing death toll. As of Tuesday, 34 people had died in South Carolina. Monday, Trump posted on TruthSocial, his social media platform, and said that Biden and the Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, were “going out of their way not to help people in Republican areas.”

When asked about Trump’s comments on Biden and avoiding Republican areas that need help, McMaster, a staunch Trump supporter, said, “those are questions for President Biden and President Trump.”

Trump also claimed that Biden did not call Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, but Kemp said Monday that he had spoken with Biden at 5 p.m. Sunday — and praised the administration’s response to the storm.

Trump’s comments come as he seeks to return to the White House. Both Georgia and North Carolina are swing states and key to the former president’s electoral college strategy.

“He’s lying ... and the governor told him he was lying,” Biden said about Trump’s comments at the White House on Monday. “I don’t know why he does this. I don’t care what he says about me. I care about what he communicates to people that are in need. He implies that we’re not doing everything possible. We are.”

Biden will be in South Carolina Wednesday as part of a survey of damage from Hurricane Helene, the White House announced Tuesday. The plan is for the president to take an aerial tour of western North Carolina, an area devastated by Hurricane Helene. Biden will “engage with first responders and state and local officials in South Carolina,” the White House said on his way to North Carolina.

McMaster said he plans to be in the Upstate Wednesday but did not comment further on the matter.

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