‘They don’t have any money’: Donald Trump shamelessly shares another lie about FEMA and immigrants
When confronted about the threats FEMA workers have faced over right-wing conspiracies, Donald Trump shamelessly continued spreading lies, including claiming the organization has no money to help North Carolina.
In late September, Hurricane Helene swept through the Southeastern United States, causing devastating damage and loss of life in six states. North Carolina was one of the hardest-hit states, with 95 confirmed fatalities and an estimated 30 people still missing. Hundreds of thousands of residents lost power and experienced residential damages, flooding, and food and water shortages. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dispatched search-and-rescue teams, Starlink satellites, and bottled water to North Carolina and other states. However, while the agency was rushing to save lives, right-wing conspiracy theorists began hampering relief efforts by spreading lies.
In a bid to discredit the Biden-Harris administration, right-wingers, including Elon Musk, began attempting to claim they ruined FEMA. The blatant and outlandish lies suggested Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had devoted all of FEMA’s funds to immigrants, FEMA had no money, and even that the administration was actively blocking relief efforts to conservative states. Instead of focusing on relief efforts, officials found themselves forced to combat right-wing misinformation while survivors experienced increased fear and confusion over the lies. At least one armed man was arrested in North Carolina after making violent threats toward FEMA employees. Yet, Trump decided to continue contributing to the dangerous lies about FEMA and immigrants.
Donald Trump repeats baseless FEMA claims to North Carolinians
Recently, Trump traveled to North Carolina, surveying the damage and devastation of Hurricane Helene before speaking to those impacted in Swannanoa. While receiving questions from the crowd, a reporter confronted Trump about the FEMA conspiracies. The journalist referenced the armed gunman who was arrested for threatening FEMA workers and questioned, “Is it helping the recovery effort in North Carolina to keep making these claims that FEMA’s not doing their job?” The simple answer to that question is “No.” The baseless conservative claims about FEMA have done nothing but waste valuable time, stir confusion and hysteria, and endanger FEMA employees.
However, it’s well-known that Trump will never condemn his or his party’s false claims, no matter how many times they are debunked or how much damage they cause. He responded, “Well, I think you have to let people know how they’re doing.” According to him, there has been nothing but “very bad statements” coming out about FEMA and, thus, he feels obligated to share they’re doing a bad job. Then, he launched into more FEMA lies, claiming all of the agency’s money is gone because it was spent on “illegal migrants.” His anti-immigration stance quickly kicked in as he derailed the conversation by talking about how migrants are “murderers,” “terrorists,” and come from “insane asylums.” He claimed:
They don’t have any money. They have to have a meeting in Washington, a special meeting in Washington to get money. It’s all gone. They’ve spent it on illegal migrants. Many of them are murderers. Many of them are drug dealers. Many of them come out of mental institutions and insane asylums, and many of them are terrorists.
Trump concluded by claiming FEMA was using money to bring immigrants into the country instead of helping North Carolina victims. Of course, all of his claims are baseless: No disaster funds have been diverted to illegal immigrants, FEMA is not running out of money, and immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens. The money FEMA has utilized for Hurricane Helene comes from the Disaster Relief Fund, which is exclusively devoted to disaster relief efforts. The agency has provided millions of dollars in aid to states impacted by Helene through millions of meals, liters of water, generators, tarps, and thousands of federal personnel. FEMA workers have saved thousands of lives in North Carolina. It’s hard to see how saving thousands of lives and dedicating millions in aid constitutes the agency doing a “bad job.”
Trump doesn’t care about the facts, though. He and conservatives see Hurricane Helene not as a tragedy but as something they can exploit and use to push hatred of immigrants. Trump will twist any situation to push his illegal immigrant narrative, even if it means endangering the lives of relief workers and hurricane survivors.
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