MAGA Republicans are trying to claim that the federal government is not responding to the crisis in western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene because it prefers to spend money in Ukraine and on undocumented immigrants.
Newsmax claims that FEMA’s top priority is not disaster relief but to instead push diversity, equity and inclusion. “Unless you’ve got your preferred pronouns spraypainted on the side of your submerged house—you won’t get a penny from Uncle Sam. Western North Carolina is just too Conservative and too Caucasian for FEMA to care.”
Meanwhile, Trump touring Valdosta, Georgia, where people are still without power amidst the devastation. Trump claimed he had spoken to Elon Musk to get his Starlink satellites into North Carolina, even though FEMA has already provided 40 of the systems to North Carolina. Trump further claimed that Georgia governor Brian Kemp was “having a hard time getting the president on the phone. They’re being very non-responsive.” Kemp himself told reporters that Biden had called yesterday. “And he just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’” Kemp told him, “We got what we need, we’ll work through the federal process," adding "He offered that if there’s other things that we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.”
Other Republicans have joined in the praise of the federal response:
- South Carolina governor Henry McMaster, a Republican, called the federal response “a great team effort…the federal government is helping us well, they’re embedded with us. There is no asset out there that we haven’t already accessed.”
- Republican governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin told reporters that he was “incredibly appreciative of the rapid response and cooperation from the federal team at FEMA.”
- Asheville, North Carolina, mayor Esther Manheimer told CNBC “We have support from outside organizations, other fire departments sending us resources, the federal government as well. So it's all-hands-on-deck, and it is a well-coordinated effort, but it is so enormous….”
FEMA responded to a post claiming that FEMA was refusing to help certain Americans, saying: “This is a lie. We help all people regardless of background as fast as possible before, during and after disasters. That is our mission and that is our focus.”
On NPR yesterday, I heard an interviewer try to corner Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with "gotcha" questions. "Why didn't you get water to western North Carolina earlier? Predictions of the storm's path were quite accurate for quite a time before the storm?" That's simply bullshit. As of about 1:00 am last Friday morning, just before Helene made landfall, the National Hurricane Center was still forecasting the storm to track much further west, crossing directly over Atlanta and then up into Tennessee. I know this, because I was glued to my screen that night. However, after making landfall, the storm instead tacked significantly eastward, crossing over Augusta, Georgia and on up into western North Carolina. The NPR reported was working with "alternative facts," but hey, a "The government's not doing enough to help you" is a spicier story than, "They're doing all they can in a difficult, arduous situation."
On MSNBC, I saw a victim of the storm up in North Carolina tell a reported "the government doesn't care about us. They're only interested in elections." Rhetoric like that of Newsmax and Trump is making things worse by crushing the morale of the people who most need help, and may even discourage them from seeking assistance from where they are most likely to get it.
Alert readers will recall that when "president," Trump repeatedly withheld federal aid from Democratic governors—including North Carolina—after disasters in their states. No wonder he thinks that's what real capital-P Presidents do.
Thanks to Heather Cox Richardson for many of the quotes and much on the info cited here.
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