Since Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation throughout the South, the Trump campaign and other conservatives have touted a lie that federal agencies are intentionally responding slowly to Republican-voting areas. In a fiery response, FEMA spokesperson Jaclyn Rothenberg slammed the idea that FEMA takes party affiliation into account.
“FEMA helps all people before, during, and after disasters,” FEMA Spokesperson told MeidasTouch. “We help people regardless of background, across all of these states that need assistance. Our goal is to get assistance into the hands of people who need it most, regardless of their background, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
The agency, which was accused of being burdened by “DEI regulations” by Fox host Laura Ingraham on Monday, has been the subject of an right-wing smear campaign alleging that their “goal is to be woke.”
Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the Biden admin was “going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas” earlier this week. Trump also claimed that victims of the hurricane were “being treated horribly by Biden and Harris” because they were Republican voters.
“The Biden-Harris team is also treating Republican areas — they get — not getting water. They’re not getting anything,” Trump told Fox Nation Kellyanne Conway on Monday.
Rothenberg says this misinformation could get in the way of people seeking the relief they need.
“When I hear the misinformation about FEMA only providing assistance to certain people, that’s really hard to hear because that’s absolutely not true,” Rothenberg said. “It’s really unfortunate that there’s misinformation because that discourages people from applying for assistance.”
The spokesperson urged all those effected by Hurricane Helene to apply for assistance.