By Farnoush Amiri
Associated Press
WASHINGTON 鈥� The U.S. government鈥檚 top disaster relief official said Sunday that about the to 鈥� spread most prominently by Donald Trump 鈥� are 鈥渄emoralizing鈥� aid workers and creating fear in people who need recovery assistance.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frankly ridiculous, and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,鈥� said Deanne Criswell, who leads the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really a shame that we鈥檙e putting politics ahead of helping people, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e here to do. We have had the complete support of the state,鈥� she said, referring to North Carolina.
Republicans, led by the former president, have helped foster a frenzy of misinformation over the past week among the communities most devastated by Helene, promoting a number of false claims, including that Washington is to people in Republican areas.
of spending all its money to help immigrants who are in the United States illegally, while other critics assert that the government spends too much on Israel, Ukraine and other foreign countries.
鈥淔EMA absolutely has enough money for Helene response right now,鈥� Keith Turi, acting director of FEMA鈥檚 Office of Response and Recovery said. He noted that Congress recently replenished the agency with $20 billion, and about $8 billion of that is set aside for recovery from previous storms and mitigation projects.
Remember 2 Things: The after effects of a disaster response
There also are outlandish theories that include warnings from far-right extremist groups that officials plan to bulldoze storm-damaged communities and seize the land from residents. A falsehood pushed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., asserts that Washington used to steer Helene toward Republican voters in order to tilt the presidential election toward Democrat Kamala Harris.
Criswell said on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week鈥� that such baseless claims around the response to Helene, which caused catastrophic damage from Florida into and a death toll that rose Sunday to at least 230, have created a sense of fear and mistrust from residents against the thousands of FEMA employees and volunteers on the ground.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had the local officials helping to push back on this dangerous -- truly dangerous narrative that is creating this fear of trying to reach out and help us or to register for help,鈥� she said.
President Joe Biden said in a statement Sunday that his administration 鈥渨ill continue working hand-in-hand with local and state leaders 鈥�- regardless of political party and no matter how long it takes.鈥�
Meantime, FEMA is preparing for , which rapidly intensified into a Category 1 storm on Sunday as it heads toward Florida.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working with the state there to understand what their requirements are going to be, so we can have those in place before it makes landfall,鈥� she said.
