Hurricane Helene: Political row erupts overs disaster relief
www.bbc.com
A month from the election, misinformation is spreading as Republicans try to tie spending on the storm with immigration.

The White House swiftly rebutted the claims and accused Republicans of spreading “bold-faced lies” about funding for the disaster response.

[…]

Trump and his allies expressed outrage that the agency had spent over $640m (£487m) on housing migrants.

But officials pointed out that this funding, authorised by Congress, was part of an entirely different programme run by Fema unconnected to disaster relief.

[…]

Republicans have attempted to link the disaster relief effort to immigration - an issue seen as a strength for Trump - but have spread misinformation about how government money is used.

At an event in Evans, Georgia, on Friday, Trump said, without evidence, that: "A lot of the money that was supposed to go to Georgia and supposed to go to North Carolina and all of the others is going and has gone already.

“It’s been gone for people that came into the country illegally, and nobody has ever seen anything like that. That’s a shame.”

Fema did receive a budget from Congress - $640m in the last fiscal year - to provide housing to immigrants applying for US citizenship.

  •  tardigrada   ( @tardigrada@beehaw.org ) OP
    12•4 hours ago

    Quick reminder on Hurricane Matthew which passed North Carolina in 2017, when Trump was U.S. President:

    North Carolina denied 99 percent of federal recovery funds for Hurricane Matthew (May 2017)

    North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday the federal government authorized just $6.1 million of the more than $900 million [less than 1 percent] the state had requested. Cooper said the funds were meant for housing and business repairs, housing elevation, agriculture, public facilities repairs, and health and mental services.

    In a letter addressed to President Trump, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and congressional leaders, Cooper called on the federal government to support Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts […]

    “Families across eastern North Carolina need help to rebuild and recover, and it is an incredible failure by the Trump Administration and Congressional leaders to turn their backs,” Cooper said in a statement.