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Texas Governor Greg Abbott poses on the field prior to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and Arizona State Sun Devils at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 01, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

‘A governor should know this’: Right on cue, Greg Abbott spreads misinformation on Biden’s California fires response

Republican leaders are doing everything except showcasing actual leadership.

As the fire engulfs Los Angeles, communities across the world are doing all they can to help those in need, from sending money to even dispatching firefighters. Unfortunately, we are not all on the same page. Some Republican politicians, like Greg Abbott, continue to see every human tragedy as an opportunity to score the most cynical political points on offer.

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In one of his final acts as President, Joe Biden announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be distributing $770 to each affected person through their special needs assistance program. According to the website FEMA set up specifically to combat misinformation, the agency states that the money is neither a loan nor funding to rebuild homes. Instead, it is meant for emergency situations such as purchasing essential items like baby formula, temporary housing, and the like. It is also worth noting that the amount is not some arbitrary number President Joe Biden came up with but rather the maximum amount set each fiscal year, with $770 having been determined on October 1, 2024.

Every senior government official is aware of this, particularly Greg Abbott, who worked closely with FEMA just last September to mitigate the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl by providing public assistance programs to rebuild 17 counties. Now, however, it seems Gov. Abbott has developed convenient amnesia and no longer recalls how FEMA works, as he took to X to make a snarky remark about $770 being used to rebuild a home.

Gov. Abbott’s behavior is not even out of character. The last time he made headlines, he was using the sexual assault of immigrant minors as copy for billboards to scare off migrants at the border. The man has very little shame and is obviously stingy with it. What’s even more concerning is that, while the rest of the country and the world are doing literally everything they can, the GOP is busy fighting their own imaginary identity politics wars. If it is not blaming the fire on DEI, then it is Elon Musk cosigning some bonkers Alex Jones conspiracy about how this wildfire is a globalist plot to wage economic warfare and deindustrialize the U.S. If Elon Musk can understand that latest Jones rambling, then he really could be the genius people say he is.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, on the other hand, is suggesting “geoengineering” and “cloud seeding” during a drought. She claims “they” know how to do it. It is just all-out ridiculousness from the right.

A user in the comments section was appalled by Gov. Abbott’s misinformation, exasperatedly saying, “A governor should know this,” before elaborating on the facts.

Listen, we get it — the entire shtick of the GOP lately has been attacking liberals and painting themselves as the better option. But at some point, they need to take a step back and view situations like this as human crises where politics simply has no role to play. This is not a joke. People have lost their homes and livelihoods. This is a time for leaders to show leadership.


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Author
Image of Fred Onyango
Fred Onyango
Fred Onyango is an entertainment journalist who primarily focuses on the intersection of entertainment, society, and politics. He has been writing about the entertainment industry for five years, covering celebrity, music, and film through the lens of their impact on society and politics. He has reported from the London Film Festival and was among the first African entertainment journalists invited to cover the Sundance Film Festival. Fun fact—Fred is also a trained pilot.