FEMA administrator slams false Helene restoration claims from Trump, Musk
Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Administration Company, Deanne Criswell, speaks throughout a press briefing on the White Home in Washington, U.S., September 26, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Federal Emergency Administration Company administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday criticized former President Donald Trump for spreading false details about how the Biden administration allotted catastrophe reduction funding for Hurricane Helene restoration.
“It is frankly ridiculous and simply plain false,” Criswell stated in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “This type of rhetoric will not be useful to folks. It is actually a disgrace that we’re placing politics forward of serving to folks.”
As hurricane season ramps up, Trump falsely claimed final week that FEMA was working out of cash to assist its catastrophe reduction efforts, as a result of the White Home had used the funds “on unlawful migrants coming into the nation.”
FEMA and different companies have since fact-checked that disinformation.
On FEMA’s “Rumor Response” webpage, the company particularly addressed the declare that FEMA catastrophe reduction funding “was diverted to help worldwide efforts or border associated points.”
“That is false. No cash is being diverted from catastrophe response wants,” the company wrote.
The Division of Homeland Safety and White Home have issued their very own statements fact-checking and condemning the false claims.
However the Trump marketing campaign and the previous president’s allies, equivalent to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, have continued to spice up disinformation in regards to the Helene restoration effort, working to show the devastating hurricane right into a marketing campaign assault in opposition to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Criswell on Sunday referred to as that rhetoric “demoralizing to the entire first responders which have been on the market of their communities serving to folks.”
Although FEMA has been working with a good finances over the previous yr, the company acquired a roughly $20 billion money infusion from the stopgap funding invoice that Congress handed to avert a authorities shutdown, which went into impact final Tuesday.
White Home officers and representatives from areas hit by Helene have stated that Congress will seemingly must go a supplemental catastrophe reduction package deal to additional assist FEMA’s rebuilding effort.
