Former President Donald Trump attempted to stop aid from reaching Californians impacted by natural disasters due to the state’s Democratic leanings, a new report claims.
According to E&E News, Trump had to be convinced to send federal disaster aid to California in 2018, when the state was plagued with deadly wildfires that killed more than 100.
Former Trump resiliency policy director Mark Harvey told the outlet that Trump was worried about sending aid to the deep-blue state until he pulled voter data showing that Trump had more support in Orange County, California than Iowa.
“We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you,” Harvey told E&E. “There’s no empathy for the survivors. It is all about getting your photo-op, right? Disaster theater to make him look good.”
Another former Trump official, Olivia Troye, said she fielded calls from panicked local officials to whom Trump had denied aid. Troye said she sometimes had to enlist Vice President Mike Pence’s help to sway Trump.
The revelations into Trump’s politicized disaster relief strategy come as he accuses the Biden administration of leaving conservatives behind in the response to Hurricane Helene response, a claim that FEMA has denied.
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