Just when you thought they couldn’t stoop any lower, they did. As we all know, two massive hurricanes occurred over a two-week period—Helene and Milton. The devastation was horrific. More than 227 people died as a result of Hurricane Helene, and at least 17 people died as a result of Hurricane Milton.
Both Donald Trump and J.D. Vance decided to make up stories about the Biden/Harris response to the hurricane.
Here are a few of Trump’s lies. He claimed that Biden did not answer calls from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He said that the Biden administration was going out of its way not to help North Carolinians who live in Republican areas. In a social media post, he wrote that Biden and Harris were being given poor grades for the way that they are handling the hurricane, especially in North Carolina. He claimed that Harris spent all her “FEMA money” on housing illegal immigrants. He then said that one billion dollars was stolen from FEMA for migrants and has gone missing. Next, he said that the federal government is only giving $750 to people who lost their homes. After that, he said that there are no helicopters, no rescues in North Carolina.
The Wall Street Journal published an editorial by J.D. Vance in which he railed about the total incompetence of the Biden/Harris response to the hurricane and accused them of misplaced priorities. He too claimed that the White House directed FEMA money away from U.S. citizens and “toward aliens who either have no legal right to be here or whose legal status depends on the say-so of the Biden Harris administration.”
Other MAGA Republicans got on the same band wagon, many of whom recently voted against FEMA funding. And Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that the Democrats are controlling the weather for their own benefit.
As a result of these falsehoods, FEMA had to launch a rumor response page on its website, debunking one claim after another. Republican and Democratic leaders in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia denied the Trump/Vance baseless claims and stated that the response was quick, and they were getting the help they asked for and more.
Here are the facts. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, more than 6,300 National Guard members from a dozen states rescued hundreds of people and cleared roads across the Southeast. They used helicopters, high-water vehicles, and boats to do so. They cleared thousands of miles of roads and opened dozens of places to distribute supplies. The economic impact of Hurricane Helene could be as much as $160 billion. FEMA spent $9 billion in more than a week.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, more than 50,000 line workers and 1,000 federal workers were on the ground to respond. More than 1,000 people have been rescued since the storm made landfall. The damage from Milton is estimated to be about $50 billion. In addition, hundreds of people are volunteering their services, and many Americans have donated to various relief organizations. Please consider donating to help hurricane victims.
Biden is asking Congress to return to Washington early and pass additional FEMA funding. So far, Speaker Johnson has not responded. Biden held a briefing in the White House situation room late last week to update the nation on all relief efforts and debunk the misinformation that was proliferating over the airwaves.
Lies for political gain are dangerous. And they are demoralizing for the thousands of workers who work night and day to repair the damage that these hurricanes have caused. Some workers have not returned home to their families for days.
In contrast, let me refresh your memory about some of Trump’s activities while he was President. He diverted about $38 million from the FEMA disaster relief fund to give to Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE). As you may recall, that was during the time he was separating children from their parents. After Hurricane Maria decimated the island of Puerto Rico, Trump threw paper towels to a crowd of people at a relief center. He claimed everyone was having a good time while he did so. During an Oval Office presentation, Trump used a Sharpie to alter an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) map to include Alabama in Hurricane Dorian’s trajectory. When visiting California after devastating wildfires, Trump said he “doesn’t think science knows if climate change is real.” (Scientists claim that climate change is responsible for a 40 percent increase in the intensity of storms like Milton. In earlier climates, they estimate it would have made landfall as a Category 2.)
Sir Walter Scott once wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
The spidery tentacles of the Trump/Vance web have traveled far and wide. Here’s hoping America frees itself from this web of deceit before it is too late.
Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, piano, and nature.
L. Ozenberger says
Bravo. 100% agree. Love your thoughtful writing.
Maria Grant says
Thank you!
Harvey Worthington says
“Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics — four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani…We do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not.” -Joseph R. Biden
Last I checked, we are engaged in a dangerous proxy war with Russia. Our proxy, the Ukraine, is same country the Bidens had extensive business dealings with as evidenced by the emails on that very same laptop. It was also, notably, the same country that was the center of the first Trump impeachment.
So, yes, I agree, lies for political gain are dangerous. Yet, I am reminded of another Sir Walter Scott quote: “A rusty nail placed near a faithful compass, will sway it from the truth, and wreck the argosy.”
Deirdre LaMotte says
The elected Biden had nothing to do with Ukraine, as the emails and investigation showed. Your projection is comical.
You are comparing an honorable man who has revived our economy, solidified our allies to a cancer on humanity, or
as some refer him: Trump.
What a waste of a human he is.
Maria Grant says
Thank you for your comments. I think you are comparing apples to oranges.
Harvey Worthington says
Mesdames – Your arguments are as robust and transparent as the process that made Ms. Harris your nominee. Nothing to do with the Ukraine? Indeed, we have made quite the fruit salad of apples and oranges.
“I remember going over (to Ukraine), convincing our team … that we should be providing for loan guarantees. … And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from (then Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko) and from (then-Prime Minister Arseniy) Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor (Shokin). And they didn’t. …
“They were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, … we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, ‘You have no authority. You’re not the president.’ … I said, call him. I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.’ Well, son of a bitch. He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.” – Biden, 2018
P.S. What the odious Desantis not calling Kamala back? Was he exploiting the hurricane for political gain, or was she? Never mind, you don’t have to answer as I already know what you are going to say.
If Lenin were alive today, he would no doubt be wondering if this idiocy is even useful anymore. You have a loyalty to your party that would make the commissars blush.
Wilson Dean says
How disheartening to see how many of our fellow Americans listen to Trump’s lies, regurgitate them to everyone as gospel, and then often even act on them (such as threatening FEMA responders). In return for giving us freedom, democracy requires its citizens to recognize the difference between facts and falsehoods, as well as be responsible in thoughts and action. For those concerned about losing our democracy in this election, my real fear is that when nearly half of voters in this country support Trump, that horse may already be out of the barn.
Maria Grant says
Thanks for your comments. I wish more Americans realized how tenuous our democracy is.
Linda Cades says
Thank you for pointing out the damage to rescue efforts caused by Trump and Vance inventing and spreading lies about FEMA workers and others who are working non-stop to help those suffering damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton. It has been said that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes. The internet has obviously speeded up the pace of those lies as well as their potential to hurt people even more. Lies like these harm people who desperately need help the most as well as those trying to help them. On Saturday, authorities arrested a man armed with an handgun and an assault weapon who believed those lies and was ready to shoot FEMA workers. As a result, rescue work was interrupted while FEMA workers had to be relocated to a safer area. In the meantime, people began fearing the workers who had come to give them some help. This incident recalls a similar incident several years ago when a man from North Carolina drove to DC because he believed a conspiracy theory that Democrats were running a “Satanic child sex ring” out of a pizza restaurant. Fortunately no one was hurt, but there were many families in the restaurant as well as employees who were put at risk. Trump/Vance seem to have no trouble whatsoever creating and spreading lies, no matter who is hurt. Let’s hope that their desperate bit to scare people to obtain political power fails miserably.
Maria Grant says
Thanks for your comments. I remember the whole ridiculous Pizzagate times. So frightening that people really bought into this. I worked at Politics and Prose for a while and it was a very disturbing incident.
Barbara Denton says
I would advise you to talk to people on the ground. I would advise you to talk to the group who privately funded the helicopters doing the rescues in NC. Trump and Vance did not make this political. You did.
Maria Grant says
Are you seriously saying that Trump/Vance were not being political when discussing the hurricane response?
Barbara Denton says
I challenge you to really find out who is helping the people on Western North Carolina who are still in much distress. The politics entered when the government failed to get in their immediately and help. Where those who knew what was going on supposed to allow more death while the United States Government ignored them? Samaritans Purse, Elon Musk with his Star Link satellite communications, many private churches, private citizens with their boat rescues and helicopter rescues were immediately on the scene. FEMA did not have any idea of what to do. When you hire people on the basis of DEI instead of capability that is what happens. Many are homeless and without water or electricity. FEMA is not capable nor interested in helping them.
Find out the facts. Do not write fiction expecting people to believe you.