President Joe Biden on Wednesday said former president Donald Trump has led an “onslaught of lies” about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene.
Speaking at a White House briefing on preparations for Hurricane Milton’s imminent Florida landfall, Biden lamented the “reckless, irresponsible promotion of disinformation and outright lies” spreading online about the government’s response to Helene.
“Former President Trump has led the onslaught of lies,” Biden said.
“Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated. That’s simply not true,” Biden continued. “They’re saying people impacted by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That’s simply not true. They’re saying the money needed for this crisis is being diverted to migrants. What a ridiculous thing to say. It’s not true.”
Trump and his son Eric and his running mate JD Vance falsely claimed at a rally on Saturday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving hurricane victims only $750 while funneling billions to undocumented immigrants and foreign countries.
“They’re offering them $750 to people whose homes have been washed away,” Trump said. “And yet we send tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries that most people have never heard of.”
Trump repeated the false claim about the $750 at a rally on Sunday, and on Wednesday he falsely claimed FEMA had run out of money.
“They spent all their funds, they have no funds to take care ― they have no funds, they have no workers, they have no nothing, FEMA,” Trump said. “FEMA was great under Trump.”
The idea that FEMA’s out of money is on the agency’s list of false rumours, and it’s another thing that’s received Republican pushback. A fact sheet from Representative Mark Amodei, the top Republican on the House subcommittee that oversees funding for FEMA, said the agency “has enough funding in the short-term to address immediate needs for both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.”
The lies about FEMA have been so widespread that on Tuesday, Representative Chuck Edwards, whose western North Carolina district saw some of the worst effects from Helene, put out a lengthy statement debunking the claim about $750, as well as several other conspiracy theories propagated by right-wing influencers and his fellow Republicans.
As FEMA has explained on its own website, where it has for the first time dedicated an entire section to debunking internet garbage, storm victims can get an upfront $750 payment while FEMA processes their applications for further aid.
HuffPost readers: Have you applied for aid and received the $750? Tell us about it ― email arthur@huffpost.com. Please include your phone number if you’re willing to be interviewed.
During the White House briefing on Wednesday, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell described preparations for Milton, which has forced thousands of Floridians to evacuate the Tampa area.
Since last week, officials have warned that false FEMA rumours could discourage storm victims from asking for help, but Criswell said, in response to a question from Harris, she did not believe misinformation had discouraged people from fleeing Milton’s path.
“There’s been a lot of misinformation out there, Madam Vice President, that’s for sure, but I have not heard anything specific to the evacuations,” Criswell said. “I think that the local officials, the state officials, have been very strong in getting that message out there and getting people to move out of harm’s way.”
Criswell said earlier on Wednesday that “the volume of misinformation is starting to go down.”
In addition to Trump, Biden singled out Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for claiming the government can control the weather in social media posts implying the storms are some sort of conspiracy.
“Now the claims are getting even more bizarre. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather,” Biden said. “We’re controlling the weather! It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s got to stop.”