‘With All Due Respect, He Is Lying’: Abby Phillip Clashes with Republican Over Bogus Trump Claim

Abby Phillip clashed with a Republican guest, who refused to acknowledge that former President Donald Trump is lying about the government’s response to Hurricane Helene.

Having moved on from lying about Haitian immigrants eating Ohioan’s pets, Trump now claims that the Biden-Harris administration is not assisting victims of Hurricane Helene because immigrants received money that would have gone toward that effort. The false charge has been propagated by right-wing social media accounts.

During Friday’s CNN NewsNight, host Abby Phillip played clips of Trump making the claim in recent days.

“They have no money because their money’s been spent on people should that should not be in our country,” Trump said in one clip. “They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank.” Trump also made similar comments on Friday in Georgia, which was impacted by the storm.

“None of that is true,” Phillip reacted. “Why does Donald Trump continue to insist on politicizing a storm that is actively still occurring? People are still in need of help, and lying about it so consistently.”

Former California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado (R) professed to not see an issue with Trump’s comments.

“Abby, I don’t see him politicizing this storm,” he said. “He is down there showing that he’s a leader.”

“But he’s claiming that Biden is withholding aid because these people are I guess, presumptively Republicans,” she retorted. “That’s just patently false.”

“I think President Trump is down there making a very big point and raising the flag of, this state needs a lot of help,” Maldonado insisted. “The one thing that you can’t accuse him of is not being is a leader.”

Phillip interrupted.

“I mean, Lieutenant Governor, with all due respect, he is lying,” she said. “He’s lying.”

“I don’t see him as not being consistent with the facts,” Maldonado claimed.

Sensing the topic was a lost cause Maldonado, Phillip moved onto to a telling fact about Trump’s presidency.

She pointed to a Washington Post fact check that noted that not only did Biden not spend FEMA money on migrants, Trump actually did. As president, he redirected $155 million in disaster funds – in the middle of hurricane season – to build detention centers and hearing locations for asylum seekers.

“He did that,” Phillip said.

Watch above via CNN.