Once upon a time, when natural disasters like hurricanes tragically wreaked havoc in the United States, everyone knew better than to waste time pointing fingers or hindering in any way the combined effort and diligent cooperation the circumstances required. People were united across bipartisan lines because of the awareness that the current moment of danger was bigger than any and all petty political squabbles.
That was once upon a time. Since Donald Trump barged into the political scene and erected himself as the can-do-no-wrong figure at the center of the MAGA cult, things haven’t been the same. One would think that a natural disaster of the devastating scale of Hurricane Helene – with an even more terrifying Milton coming on its heels – would be enough for some people to reorganize their priorities.
For Trump, however, anything is an opportunity to discredit his opponent as we draw ever closer to the election. Even if, shockingly, he has to lie through his teeth with no ounce of regard for the real impact of his falsehood.
In Trump’s words: “The White House is doing nothing. They’ve abandoned us. And it’s largely a Republican area.” The only part of this claim that is remotely true is the last sentence, everything else, is no more than smoke and mirrors.
It’s not just Democrats who have spoken out against these misleading allegations. The Republican governors of South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, have all publicly praised the federal government’s response. And now, it was Florida’s Ron DeSantis’s turn to indirectly refute Trump’s egregious claims.
Biden has delivered
Besides having recently admitted that everything he requested of President Joe Biden has been approved, Ron DeSantis was also forced to acknowledge that he did in fact receive phone calls from Kamala Harris, excusing his lack of an answer on being unaware that it was the Vice President trying to reach him.
According to ABC News, Harris commented on DeSantis’s attitude saying, “People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games with this moment, in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations, it’s utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish.”
“She has no role in this,” DeSantis said of the Democratic nominee, “In fact, she’s been vice president for three and a half years. I’ve dealt with a number of storms under this administration. She has never contributed anything to any of these efforts, and so what I think is selfish is her trying to blunder into this.”
However, it seems that, even if it took longer than it should have, DeSantis has temporarily relinquished – at least in part – his politically-motivated animosity in favor of the truth. Something Donald Trump seems unable to even consider.
In an official statement, the White House has not only described how it has “spared no resource” in its efforts and response to the disaster but also focused on extensively debunking the many falsehoods and unhelpful waves of misinformation that have been pushed by Trump and some of his most unyielding political backers like Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“Combatting misinformation and disinformation is always important – but it is especially important when responding to disasters like Hurricane Helene,” one paragraph reads, “In fact, disinformation after a hurricane or other natural disaster can discourage people from seeking critical assistance when they need it most. It is imperative that we encourage impacted residents to register for FEMA assistance, not discourage it, by allowing falsehoods to spread.”
On top of the released written statement, the President and the First Lady have directly addressed the nation:
FEMA’s chief Deanne Criswell has also pushed back against the kind of divisive rhetoric endorsed by the Republican candidate, explaining how such blatantly misleading claims do nothing but demoralize workers and generate fear and mistrust among residents who’ve heeded the lies.
If you’ve been significantly impacted as a result of these hurricanes, you may be eligible to apply for assistance at FEMA.gov.
