Fact check: Trump lied for six days about the response to Hurricane Helene

Washington
CNN
—

Former President Donald Trump delivered a barrage of lies and distortions about the federal response to Hurricane Helene.

While various disinformation about the response has spread widely without Trump’s input, the Republican presidential candidate is one of the nation’s leading fraudsters on the topic. Over the course of six days, in public comments and social media posts, Trump used his powerful megaphone to support or invent false or baseless claims.

The main targets of his hurricane-related dishonesty were Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the November presidential election, and President Joe Biden.

Monday: Trump falsely claims Biden didn’t answer calls from Georgia governor

During Monday’s visit to Georgia, Trump said of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp: “He called the president, he couldn’t reach him.”

It immediately became clear that Trump’s claims were false. Kemp, a Republican, told reporters on Monday that he had spoken to Biden the day before and that it was Kemp who initially did not return Biden’s call, not the other way around.

Kemp told reporters that he was able to call Biden back immediately. Kemp added: “He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him, you know, “We’ve got what we need.” We will go through the federal process. He offered to let us just call him directly if we needed anything else, which I appreciated. But FEMA is installed within us a day or two before the storm hits our state operations center in Atlanta; we have a great relationship with them.”

Monday: Trump cites baseless ‘reports’ of anti-Republican bias in North Carolina response

On Monday, in a social media post, Trump said of North Carolina: “I’ll be there soon, but I don’t like the reports I’m receiving about the federal government and the state’s Democratic governor going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”

It’s unclear what “reports” Trump may have been receiving, but there was no clear basis for the claim that the Biden administration and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper were maliciously abandoning certain communities due to partisan bias.
Trump offered no evidence when pressed by a reporter later in the day.

Thursday: Trump falsely claims Biden-Harris response was met with ‘universally’ negative reviews

On Thursday, Trump wrote in a social media post that Biden and Harris “widely receive BAD RATINGS for their handling of the hurricane, especially in North Carolina.”

It wasn’t even close to accurate. While the Biden administration’s response has certainly been met with criticism, it has also been praised by various state and local leaders – including the Republican governors of some affected states and the Democratic governor of North Carolina, as well as local leaders including the Democratic mayor of the hard-hit city of Asheville, Carolina North.

South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, for example, said at a Tuesday news conference that federal aid has been “outstanding,” noting that both Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called and told him to keep them informed of any state needs. McMaster also said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called.

Thursday: Trump falsely claims Harris spent “all her FEMA money” housing undocumented migrants

At a campaign rally in Michigan on Thursday, Trump claimed that “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing illegal immigrants, many of whom shouldn’t be in our country.” He added an election conspiracy theory, saying, “They stole FEMA money like they stole it from the bank so they can give it to their illegal immigrants to make them vote for them this season.”

This is false.

First, Trump’s suggestion that the Biden administration is pursuing some agenda to induce undocumented immigrants to vote illegally in the 2024 election has no basis. Voting by foreigners is a crime.

Second, there is no basis for the claim that FEMA disaster relief money was stolen – by anyone, let alone Harris personally – to provide housing for migrants.

Congress appropriated $650 million in fiscal year 2024 to fund a program to help state and local governments house migrants and directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to provide the $650 million to FEMA to administer the program. However, this $650 million pot is completely different from FEMA’s pot of disaster relief funds; as the Department of Homeland Security, the White House and independent observers noted this week, these are simply two separate things, funded separately by Congress.

Congress has appropriated more than $35 billion in disaster relief for fiscal year 2024, according to official FEMA statistics.

Friday: Trump falsely claims $1 billion was ‘stolen’ from FEMA for migrants and ‘missing’

Although Trump’s claims Thursday about FEMA money and migrants had already been debunked on Friday, Trump repeated the claim to reporters at least twice on Friday and then repeated it during a town hall in North Carolina on Friday evening.

Saturday: Trump falsely claims the federal government is only giving $750 to people who lost their homes

At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump strongly suggested that Americans who lost their homes in the hurricane would be offered only $750 in federal aid.

“They are offering them $750 to people whose houses were washed away. And yet we send tens of billions of dollars to other countries that most people have never heard of. They offer them $750. They were destroyed, these people were destroyed,” Trump said. He added: “Think about this: We give hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign countries and $750 to North Carolina.”

Trump’s claim is wrong. As FEMA explained earlier this week on social media and: on a website set up to combat misinformation about the answer is just $750 immediate, in advance survivors aid can cover basic, urgent needs such as food, water, infant formula and necessities. Survivors are also eligible to apply for additional forms of assistance, such as coverage for temporary housing and home repairs, which can be worth thousands of dollars; for example, the current maximum amount for home improvement assistance is $42,500.

During Harris’ visit to Georgia on Wednesday, she said: “And the federal aid and assistance that we’re providing includes FEMA giving $750 to people who need immediate necessities like food, baby formula and the like. You can apply now.” But a moment later she added: “FEMA is also providing tens of thousands of dollars more to people to help them deal with home repairs, to be able to cover their deductible when and if they have insurance, as well as hotel costs.”

It’s also worth noting that hurricane assistance for individual residents is separate from the hurricane assistance the federal government will provide to state governments. For example, the federal Department of Transportation announced Saturday that it will immediately provide $100 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation “to cover the costs of immediate emergency work resulting from flood damage caused by Hurricane Helene.” Buttigieg added that “additional federal resources will be provided” following this emergency funding.

Saturday: Trump falsely claims there are “no helicopters, no rescue” in North Carolina.

Trump, criticizing Harris for attending a political fundraiser in California on the last weekend of September, said at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania: “Kamala was wining and dining in San Francisco, and all the people in North Carolina – no helicopters, no rescue – it’s just… what happened there is very bad.

This claim about North Carolina is false. Multiple government and private helicopters and other aircraft were involved in the rescue and relief effort in North Carolina, although some residents died before they could be rescued and a significant number of residents remain missing or stranded for days.

The North Carolina Air National Guard announced Thursday that its own air force “conducted 146 air missions resulting in the rescue of 538 people and 150 pets.” On Friday, the Washington Post reported: “Helicopter drones have become routine in western North Carolina after Helene’s death. National Guard and civilian planes are now streaking across the sky over a region where roads and bridges have been destroyed and people are trapped. “Helicopters deliver supplies, pick up people in need of rescue, drop off firefighters and search and rescue teams, and radio for help for others who can be more easily reached from the ground.”

CNN reported Saturday that air traffic over western North Carolina has increased 300% over the past seven days as a result of hurricane recovery efforts, according to Becca Gallas, director of the North Carolina Division of Aviation. In an official release Saturday, the state said: “A total of 53 search and rescue teams from within and outside North Carolina, consisting of more than 1,600 personnel, conducted search and rescue operations during this event. “Search and rescue teams made contact with over 5,400 people, providing assistance, evacuation and rescue.”