WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris posted a video to X of herself speaking last week to the mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., as Hurricane Milton neared — but only after editing out describing herself as a “devout public servant” and expressing concern about the pace of federal aid.
The Democratic presidential nominee tweeted footage of her speaker phone call with Mayor Ken Welch — leaving 38 seconds of the two-minute call on the cutting room floor — as the storm approached the Gulf Coast.
A more complete version of the tape from Welch’s end of the line, obtained by The Post, reveals that the Harris team edited out the 59-year-old saying, “I am a devout public servant, but I know how bureaucracy and red tape can get in the way of getting stuff done in a timely manner.”
Republican politicians, including Harris’ Nov. 5 election rival Donald Trump, have slammed the federal response to Hurricane Helene, particularly what local officials said was the slow initial delivery of assistance to western North Carolina.
In another revision, the Harris-tweeted video removed her coaching Welch, also a Democrat, to put on a brave face in case of calamity — as federal officials were at the time fearing Milton would be “the storm of the century.”
The full version shows Harris said: “Your folks are looking in your eyes to make sure and see something in you that lets them know everything’s going to be OK, and sometimes you know everything’s going to
be OK, sometimes you don’t.”
The posted version of the video excised Harris saying, “sometimes you know everything’s going to be OK, sometimes you don’t.”
Other minor revisions included removing an instance of Harris using the filler phrase “you know,” which communication experts encourage avoiding.
The edited footage that Harris tweeted has been viewed more than 2.4 million times on X.
It was shared as Harris sought to demonstrate her commitment to helping with the federal response to devastating storms — and after Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to take the veep’s call, saying that she hadn’t been interested in hurricanes in prior years and accusing her of self-aggrandizement for political reasons.
Hurricane Milton ultimately caused less severe damage than had been feared.
Spokespeople for the Harris-Walz campaign and vice presidential office did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
The revisions follow other editing controversies involving Harris — including CBS News’ “60 Minutes” editing the vice president’s interview remarks for live broadcast, in what Republicans fumed was an attempt to make her answers seem more well-considered.
