'Unimaginable': Ex-Trump staffer reveals 'the crazy thing' about his hurricane relief claim

While on the campaign trail in Georgia and North Carolina, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the federal response to Hurricane Helene is insufficient and that money for displaced Americans is instead being diverted elsewhere.

"It's been a terrible response from the White House. They're missing a billion dollars that was used for another purpose," Trump said in a video posted to his Truth Social account. "From that standpoint, it's been terrible."

However, governors of affected states have praised President Joe Biden's swift response to the hurricane and his freeing up of billions of dollars in emergency relief funds. Republican Governors Brian Kemp of Georgia, Bill Lee of Tennessee and Henry McMaster of South Carolina have all publicly expressed gratitude for the federal resources Biden made immediately available.

READ MORE: 'Totally out of luck': How Project 2025 would gut relief for Hurricane Helene victims

According to CNN, McMaster called Biden's response "superb," and Lee remarked that there was a "fast turnaround, frankly" when getting the federal support he requested. Kemp directly rebutted Trump's claim that the Georgia governor couldn't get Biden on the phone, saying that Biden not only called him directly, but asked: "What do you need?"

In a recent interview on MSNBC, former Trump White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews — who left her post after the January 6, 2021 insurrection — blasted her former boss over his decision to "politicize" relief efforts. She told guest host Michael Steele (who was filling in for ReidOut anchor Joy-Ann Reid on Friday) that it was "unimaginable" for public officials to leverage an ongoing national disaster in which hundreds of Americans have been killed for political gain.

"So many of our fellow Americans are suffering, going through probably the worst experience of their lives right now, and what do these politicians decide to do? Politicize it. What does Donald Trump try to do? Spread lies about it," Matthews said. "Now Trump is saying FEMA, they don't have enough money for relief for victims of the hurricane because they were using that money on undocumented immigrants. And the crazy thing is that Washington Post did a fact check and it was actually Donald Trump during his administration who has taken money from FEMA, the relief fund, to use on undocumented immigrants."

Matthews' claim is also backed up by the Associated Press (AP). In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the AP reported that Trump once diverted money meant for Hurricane Maria relief efforts in Puerto Rico to efforts aimed at sending unauthorized immigrants back to Mexico. Specifically, the ex-president took $155 million from FEMA's operations budget — which he said wouldn't impact emergency response — and put it toward funding his "Remain in Mexico" efforts.

READ MORE Trump mutters 'take a look' when asked to prove aid denial for Helene victims

During his presidency, Trump also politicized emergency response in wildfire-ravaged California. Politico's E&E News reported that in 2018, he was initially hesitant to allocate money toward fire relief in southern California due to the Golden State's reputation as a Democratic stronghold. In fact, he didn't warm to opening up federal funds for emergency relief until an administration official told him that Orange County, California had more Trump voters than the entire state of Iowa.

"We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you," former Trump administration National Security Council official Mark Harvey told E&E. Harvey has since endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign.

Watch the video of Matthews' remarks below, or by clicking this link.

READ MORE: Trump — who has $4 billion — is now asking other people to donate to Helene relief