Transcript: Trump is already spreading an ugly, hateful lie about the hurricane

Clayton: We already knew that the law would disenfranchise voters anyway given how slow the Postal Service is right now, thanks to Donald Trump and his takeover of the Postal Service in that regard during his first term. This is currently having a huge impact. We also saw the state, the Republican appeals court in North Carolina delaying mail-in ballots to remove RFK Jr.'s name from the ballot, and the Republican Supreme Court also stopping and supporting the appeals court. There are many postal service or post office zip codes that cannot actually accept or receive mail. So making sure we reach those people will be a problem. As I said, we are still in an evaluation phase. I'll definitely leave that up to the state Board of Elections and our county offices. We're here and we can help figure that out, but we're still in the phase of trying to figure out what that looks like on the ground and how immediate it is. Again, you can contact readync.gov if you need assistance or would like to immediately learn about the state's hurricane relief resources. For now, we'll be watching to see what voter protection efforts look like across the state going forward.

Sargent: So let's go back to what people are enduring in Western North Carolina right now. Where are you from in the state? Do you have friends, relatives or loved ones with whom you communicate? What do you hear from there?

Clayton: Right now people are just trying to make sure everyone is OK. I'm really lucky. My aunt lives in Madison County in Mars Hill and it's been hit pretty hard, but she's doing well. I've heard from our people in Morganton, and we've also heard from many of our county party leaders. Some of their homes look flooded, but we're lucky they're okay. Some of our party headquarters in our county will also be opened as places for people to come to pick up supplies, especially as the roads reopen. Make no mistake, we are in this for the long haul and the North Carolina Democratic Party will be committed, especially in the counties that have been affected and hit the hardest. We will do everything we can to help over the next few months, two months, two years, because we know that rebuilding communities will take a long time. However, that's what Western North Carolina is doing. That's what Appalachia does. They are resilient. They are good people and deserve all the attention and time we can give them.