Trump's Helene Remarks Rebuked by North Carolina's Largest Newspapers

Source: Newsweek

Published Oct 06, 2024 at 11:08 AM EDT Updated Oct 06, 2024 at 11:27 AM EDT


The joint editorial board of North Carolina's two largest newspapers, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer, rebuked former President Donald Trump on Saturday over his false claims about the federal response to Hurricane Helene. Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and a number of his Republican allies have been pushing unsubstantiated claims this week concerning the response of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Helene, which left at least 225 people dead and dealt massive damage to infrastructure when it ripped through the Southeast late last month.

The former president falsely claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was diverting disaster relief money to illegal migrants. Trump said during a rally in Michigan on Thursday that Harris, who has no direct control over FEMA or any other federal agencies, had spent "all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants."

In reality, some FEMA money has been spent to house migrants but the funds are part of a program that is entirely separate and unrelated to the FEMA disaster fund, which the agency says is fully funded to deal with the current crisis. Trump also falsely claimed that Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, with whom he held a joint news conference concerning disaster relief efforts on Friday, was unable to speak with Biden about federal disaster assistance over the phone.

In an op-ed published by the newspapers on Saturday titled, "Shame on Donald Trump for worsening NC's Helene tragedy with political lies" the joint editorial board critiqued Trump's remarks for trying to benefit himself politically instead of bringing the community together.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-helene-remarks-rebuked-north-carolinas-largest-newspapers-1964524