'A distraction': CNN’s Tapper methodically debunks Trump’s lies about federal hurricane response

07 October 2024

CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday spent a portion of his show, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Monday debunking Donald Trump's lies about the federal response to Hurricane Helene across western North Carolina.

"Former president Donald Trump falsely suggested that there is meager assistance for the Americans who lost everything but their lives from Hurricane Helene — that they were not being offered much by the federal government," Tapper said.

The GOP nominee on Sunday told a MAGA rally crowd, "[The government] sent hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign nations. And you know what they're giving our people? 750 bucks. They're offering them $750 to people whose homes have been washed away."

Tapper replied to Trump's lie, saying, "That would be shocking, if that were true — that that's all that the federal government was offering these disaster victims. But it's not. On a page called Hurricane Helene Rumor Response, FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] called the claim false, describing it as just one form of assistance to help people cover essential items like food and water and other emergency supplies in the short term. FEMA goes on to highlight how those victims of this disaster can also apply for temporary housing and personal property and home repair costs."

The CNN host then pointed to another false claim from the former president.

"[The government has] given over $1 billion to illegal migrants had came in and now they have no money for North Carolina, for Georgia, for South Carolina, and Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida," Trump said.

Tapper noted that Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), a Trump ally, pushed back on that claim over the weekend.

"We could have a discussion about the failure of this administration's border policies and the billions of dollars it's costing. But right now, not yet is it affecting the flow of resources to western North Carolina," the Tar Heel State lawmaker told ABC's Margaret Brennan.

"There's also this claim that Trump posted on Truth Social saying that he doesn't 'like the reports that I'm getting about the federal government and the Democrat governor of the state of North Carolina going out of the way to not help people in Republican areas,'" Tapper explained.

"It's not exactly clear what reports Mr. Trump is referring to," the CNN host continued, before rolling a clip of South Carolina Republican Governor Henry McMaster, in which the GOP leader assured reporters that federal assistance for his state "has just been superb."

Tapper then turned to yet another clip from Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, and other Republicans thanking president Biden for "his support and continued coordination to provide assistance to Virginians in need."

The CNN host emphasized, "These false statements are having an impact on the very people who have been impacted by this deadly and financially devastating storm."

Tapper went on to highlight a Facebook post published by North Carolina Republican State Senator Kevin Corbin last week, saying:

"Will you all help stop this conspiracy theory junk that is floating all over Facebook and the internet about the floods in western North Carolina? Example: FEMA is stealing money from donations. I just talked to one senator that has had 15 calls today about why we don't stop... 'fill in the blank.' 98% chance it's not true and if it is a problem, someone is aware and on it."

"When you listen to folks on the ground in the community in North Carolina where my mom is from, it sounds a lot like like what we heard from officials in Springfield, Ohio after Trump and [his running mate, Senator JD] Vance falsely claimed that Haitian migrants were eating their neighbors cats and dogs," Tapper added. "Those same Republican officials in Ohio called those claims a distraction from the real challenge, which is an influx of legal migrants straining resources, such just schools and hospitals and housing, creating a situation that needs to be addressed...This same misinformation — these lies about FEMA — also a distraction, hindering recovery efforts, taking away from the real problem: hundreds dead, dozens missing, communities that will need to be rebuilt from the ground up. And also legitimate questions about whether FEMA and the Biden administration responded as quickly and as efficiently as they should have. All these lies are not helping focus on the real questions."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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