WASHINGTON, D. C. – During campaign appearances as Republican Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio is telling crowds that bureaucracy is hindering disaster response to Hurricane Helene and military and National Guard deployments are moving at a snail’s pace.
He maintains the “Harris administration” gave billions of dollars to foreign countries and illegal aliens, but is providing just $750 to Americans who lost everything in the hurricane disaster. He says the Federal Emergency Management Agency is focused on resettling illegal immigrants instead of disaster relief, and that Appalachian areas are being ignored.
“What started out as a natural disaster is becoming a man-made disaster,” Vance told a crowd in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend. “When Appalachia was under water, remember President Biden was sitting on a beach and Kamala Harris was at a San Francisco fundraiser. That is not leadership. That is a disgrace.”
Democrats say Vance and Trump are the ones disgracing themselves by spreading lies during a disaster.
“We need to work together to rebuild and recover from a catastrophic disaster like this one – and spreading false information to sow chaos hurts real people,” said a social media statement North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. “Politicians, billionaires and grifters who peddle lies during a time of crisis should be held accountable.”
In a Sunday ABC interview, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said her agency has all the resources it needs to address Hurricane Helene’s damage and is “absolutely ready” to address Hurricane Milton, when it hits Florida on Wednesday.
She described as “ridiculous and just plain false” Trump campaign claims that FEMA is low on disaster relief funds because it spent its money on undocumented immigrants, and that GOP areas affected by the storm are being ignored because its funds were diverted to undocumented immigrants
“I need to make sure I can get the resources to where they’re needed, and when you have this dangerous rhetoric like you’re hearing, it creates fear in our own employees,” said Criswell. “We need to make sure we’re getting help to people who need it.”
When asked during a CBS interview whether the federal response in North Carolina was lacking and emergency funds were instead being spent on immigrants, Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina said the Biden administration has spent billions on its “failed immigration policies and border policies” but it hasn’t affected the flow of resources to western North Carolina.
“We have the resources that we need, we’re going to have to go back and pass more resources,” Tillis said.
Here are some of the claims Vance has made about disaster response and the Biden administration’s response:
Claim: Disaster victims are getting $750 from the federal government
FEMA says that’s false. Disaster survivors can get $750 up front, flexible payments called Serious Needs Assistance to help cover essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies while FEMA assesses their eligibility for additional funds. Other forms of assistance are available for temporary housing, personal property and home repair costs. To apply, survivors should visit disasterassistance.gov, download the FEMA App or call 1-(800) 621-3362. The maximum amount of money that FEMA can provide homeowners for repairs this year is $42,000.
As of the weekend, FEMA said it had shipped over 14.9 million meals, more than 13.9 million liters of water, more than 505,000 tarps to the region, and installed 157 generators at critical facilities such as hospitals and water treatment plants.
In addition to helping individuals affected by the hurricane, the federal government has provided millions to aid local governments. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the immediate availability of $100 million in Emergency Relief funds for the North Carolina Department of Transportation to help pay for the costs of immediate emergency work resulting from Hurricane Helene flood damage. The department also announced $32 million for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. This is in addition to the $2 million announced for use by the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
Claim: FEMA has diverted emergency assistance money to immigrants
In the 2024 fiscal year, Congress allotted $650 million for FEMA’s Shelter and Services program, which provides grants to help state and local governments take care of migrants. But that money is separate from the $35 billion Congress appropriated to FEMA for disaster relief. FEMA says it hasn’t diverted any of its disaster relief money to the Shelter and Services program.
According to the Washington Post’s fact-checker, which gave the Trump campaign’s claims “Four Pinnochios,” the Trump administration told Congress in 2019 that it was taking $155 million from the disaster fund to pay for immigration detention space and temporary housing locations for asylum seekers who were forced to wait in Mexico.
“Trump falsely claims FEMA has run out of disaster money — and then falsely says that’s because money instead was spent on migrants,” it says. “There is no evidence the Biden administration spent FEMA disaster money on migrants. Rather, that’s what Trump did.”
When asked Tuesday for the campaign’s evidence that Biden administration had diverted disaster money to immigrants, Vance said “we know that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are more than willing to move money from one bucket to another if it suits their purpose.
“If you put people on the task of dealing, let’s say, with the massive influx of illegal immigration, then they’re going to be distracted from doing their core job of keeping Americans safe in response to a disaster,” Vance added.
Claim: The Biden administration isn’t focused on getting resources to those who need it
During his Tuesday appearance in Detroit, Vance declared the Biden administration isn’t focused on getting resources to people that need it.
“Kamala Harris is out at a fundraiser in San Francisco, meanwhile, North Carolina is drowning,” said Vance. “North Carolinians have every right to say, ‘Where the hell is our vice president and why isn’t she focused on us?’”
According to a White House fact sheet released this weekend, 1,500 troops are now mobilized to assist more than 6,100 National Guardsmen and more than 7,000 federal personnel on the ground. It said it has directed more than $137 million in federal assistance to thousands of Hurricane Helene surviors, with more to come.
Biden has approved the federal government covering 100% of the costs associated with things like debris removal, first responders, search and rescue, shelters and mass feeding for Florida, Georgia North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia’s response to Hurricane Helene.
“Our job is to help as many people as we can,” Biden said during an October 3 visit to survey damage in Georgia. “When you do that, I hope we begin to break down this rabid partisanship that exists. I mean that sincerely. There’s no rationale for it. There’s no rationale for it. And so, it doesn’t matter who we help; it’s who’s needed help. And, look, we’re going to help as many people as we can.’’
During her Monday press conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre quoted Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster saying federal assistance during Hurricane Helene has “been superb,” Republican Virginia Governor Gov. Glenn Youngkin saying he was “incredibly appreciative of the rapid response,” and Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp saying he appreciated Biden’s call offering any “other things we need.”
“There’s a bipartisan response to Hurricane Helene, and you see that, you hear that from elected officials on both sides of the aisle,” Jean-Pierre said. “They’re very thankful for what the federal government has done and continues to do. But you have this misinformation, disinformation that wants to tear it apart. And this is a time for communities to come together, for all of us to come together. It doesn’t matter if you have an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ behind your name; it is a time to come together to actually deliver for these impacted communities.”
