Former President Donald Trump surveyed the damage from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina on Monday and took questions in Swannanoa after delivering some remarks.
“A armed gunman was arrested and charged with making threats against FEMA workers two Saturdays ago. FEMA had a safety standdown because of a credible threat. Is it helping the recovery effort in North Carolina to keep making these claims that FEMA’s not doing their job?” an off-camera reporter asked Trump, referring to threats against FEMA workers linked to hard right conspiracy theories.
“Well, I think you have to let people know how they’re doing. If they were doing a great job, I think we should say that, too, because I think they should be rewarded. But if they’re not doing, does that mean that if they’re doing a poor job, we’re supposed to not say that these people are entitled to say it and these are honest people behind us,” replied Trump, who falsely claimed in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane that Democrats were not offering help to Republican areas.
“If FEMA were doing well. They would be saying they did a good job. They’re not, for the most part, political people. For the most part, they’re not political people. But you’ve obviously seen nothing but, you know, very bad statements coming out about the job that FEMA and this administration has done having to do with
And by the way, other states also, they’re also complaining. But look, a lot of the money is gone. They don’t have any money. They have to have 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. And they spend money to bring these people into our country and they don’t have money to take care of the people from North Carolina and other states.So, you know, I think you have to be able to speak. Does that mean let’s not talk about it? Because by doing that, they’ll do a better job the next time. It’s very important.
Notably, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) who appeared with Trump on Monday, released a memo in the aftermath of Helene to defend FEMA and debunk some of the lies surrounding the hurricane – which Trump again spread. Edwards’s memo included:
FEMA is NOT stopping trucks or vehicles with donations, confiscating or seizing supplies, or otherwise turning away donations.FEMA does not conduct vehicle stops or handle road closures with armed guards – all road closures are managed by local law
enforcement who are prioritizing getting resources to their fellow community members.FEMA has NOT diverted disaster response funding to the border or foreign aid.Disaster response efforts and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts.FEMA’s non-disaster related presence at the border has always been of major concern to me, even before Hurricane Helene, and I will continue to condemn their deployment of personnel to the southern border, but we must separate the two issues.FEMA is NOT going to run out of money.FEMA officials have repeatedly affirmed that the agency has enough money for immediate response and recovery needs over the next few months.
Other major Republican leaders in North Carolina and other states impacted praised both FEMA’s and the Biden administration’s response to Helene – including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).