Former President Donald Trump criticized the Joe Biden administration’s response to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, even as his supporters have called for cuts to federal agencies that warn of weather disasters and deliver relief to hard-hit communities.
As President, Trump delayed disaster aid for hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico and diverted money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to finance an effort to return undocumented migrants to Mexico. And Project 2025, backed by Trump supporters, would restructure FEMA to limit aid to states and says that the National Weather Service, which provides crucial data on hurricanes and other storms, “should be broken up and downsized.”
Trump claimed without evidence Monday that the Biden administration and North Carolina’s Democratic Governor were “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.” And Trump adviser Stephen Miller said Biden “failed to evacuate or rescue” U.S. citizens, ”just like you failed in Afghanistan.’’
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said officials have rescued and supported more than 1,400 people in areas impacted by the storm.
“This is what they do,″ she said, referring to rescue efforts by FEMA and other federal agencies.
“It doesn’t matter which state it is. It doesn’t matter if it’s a red state or blue state,’’ Jean-Pierre said Monday. “This is their job — to get food there, to get generators there, to save some lives, to rescue people. And so we are very proud of the work that they’ve done.″
Biden has approved major disaster declarations for Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, allowing survivors to access funds and resources to jump-start their recovery immediately. FEMA, other federal agencies, private businesses, and nonprofit and faith-based organizations are responding to the disaster in at least seven states, from Florida to Virginia.
The death toll from the storm surpassed 100 people, with some of the worst damage caused by inland flooding in western North Carolina.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump in the presidential election, said in a statement that she and Biden are working with local leaders in the Southeast to provide support. She said more than 1,500 federal personnel, including power restoration and search and rescue teams, have been deployed.
“Listen to local officials and stay safe,″ Harris said. “We are with you every step of the way.″
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called the flooding in North Carolina “historic” and said the storm caused significant infrastructure damage to water systems, communication, roads, and critical transportation routes in multiple states, complicating recovery efforts.
Criswell visited several areas in Georgia on Sunday and surveyed damage with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday.
During Trump’s term as President, he visited numerous disaster zones, including the aftermaths of hurricanes, tornadoes and shootings. But the trips sometimes elicited controversy such as when he tossed paper towels to cheering residents in Puerto Rico in 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
It wasn’t until years later, just weeks before the 2020 Presidential Election, that Trump’s administration released $13 billion in assistance for the territory. A federal government watchdog found that officials hampered an investigation into delays in aid delivery.
Democrats in Congress also criticized Trump for transferring $155 million from FEMA’s operating budget to fund operations to return migrants to Mexico. FEMA officials said at the time that the transfer would not impact disaster relief, but organizations representing emergency planners criticized the move.
Trump also insisted that Alabama, along with the Carolinas and Georgia, would be hit “harder than anticipated” by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Trump displayed a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map that was altered with a black Sharpie marker to extend the hurricane’s projected path to include Alabama.
Democrats and some voices in the scientific community have zeroed in on Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s 900-page blueprint of a hard-right turn in U.S. government and society, as proof that a second Trump administration would gut the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center.
Project 2025 calls for refocusing the National Weather Service on “commercial operations,” arguing that it should simply collect data for “private companies such as AccuWeather,” effectively ending public weather forecasting.
The document also calls for the next administration to review the work of the National Hurricane Center and says data collected by the center should be presented neutrally “without adjustments intended to support any one side in the climate debate.”
Trump has denied that Project 2025 has anything to do with his campaign or second-term agenda. But he previously praised Heritage for the effort, which involved many conservatives who worked in or with his first administration.
During an appearance Monday in Valdosta, Georgia, Trump suggested that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp had been unable to get in touch with Biden regarding relief. But Kemp told reporters that he spoke with Biden the day before and that the president said to “call him directly” if the state has additional needs. “I appreciate that,” said Kemp.
FEMA uses its disaster relief fund to coordinate the federal response to major disasters. It pays for debris removal, repair of public infrastructure and financial assistance for survivors, among other things. The temporary spending bill passed and signed into law last week pumped about $20 billion into the fund and gave FEMA the ability to spend that money more quickly.
That should help the agency respond to the most immediate needs, but lawmakers from both parties recognize that additional money will be needed in the coming months. Lawmakers are expected to return to Washington shortly after the November election and negotiate a full-year spending bill when many lawmakers will seek billions of dollars more for the disaster relief fund.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
13 comments
A Day without MAGA
September 30, 2024 at 6:17 pm
Desantis said Florida did not need any additional assistance,that Biden should concentrate on North Carolina, lots of people will never recover,lots of banks will own empty lots,hoping the price will go up to salvage their savings and come after homeowners for the different Google Hurricane Mortgage Damage Payment
Michael K
September 30, 2024 at 6:28 pm
More lies.
Donald Trump seems to hate America. All he sees is decline – a very dark image, what he calls American Carnage.
It used to be that national disasters brought people together. Not with Trump. Sowing division and fear is all he knows. Disgraceful.
A day with out Michael K
October 1, 2024 at 12:13 pm
Biden and harris have lied thousands of times. You don’t care about lying otherwise you would call them out, pathetic worm.
The Sage "E"
September 30, 2024 at 6:42 pm
This shall be “The Failed Harris Administration’s KATRINA … The Democrats are circling the Dook Toilet Bowel faster & faster,
The Sage “E”
A Day without MAGA
September 30, 2024 at 7:41 pm
Only place the government got insurance money is the FDIC,it only has lousy a 150 billion in cash ,if a bank collapse and no other bank buys it the government would have to liquidate all the bank securities to pay deposit all,when go to the bank and see the seal FDIC ,don’t laugh, because it is joke ,if you want to know how much your bank loss Google your bank and loss with it Google Bank of America Loss
A day with out Libturds
October 1, 2024 at 12:18 pm
If libturds were so great they would be ahead by 20 points. Truth is they have no accomplishments and only talk shit about others. It’s all they have.
yew oweme
October 1, 2024 at 7:29 pm
LIPTURD,, you said ” truth is “, isn’t that what a liar says just before he lies?
Tom Palmer
September 30, 2024 at 6:50 pm
Trump’s rantings are witless.
Jojo
October 1, 2024 at 7:18 am
Trump “ suggested” that kemp was unable to get ahold of Biden???
Let me help you with that… Trump was told by kemp he spoke to Biden so in fact Trump LIED. SEE? That wasn’t so hard
A day with out Michael K
October 1, 2024 at 12:09 pm
Biden and harris lied thousands of times. You really don’t care about lying otherwise you’d call them out, pathetic libturd slime.
KatgrynA
October 1, 2024 at 4:02 pm
Did you mix up the ultimate liar: Trump, with Biden?? I think Trump holds the all time record and he is a disaster himself.
Let’s come together and help each state affected by this storm. Don’t make it political. People are I. Terrible shape here and north of us!
A day without Libturds
October 1, 2024 at 4:34 pm
You already made it political. Do as I say, not as I do.
Hypocrite.
Cindy
October 1, 2024 at 7:14 pm
In this serial world the fork is going to poke everything. Windshield wipers will not help.