Florida was hit by Hurricane Milton late Wednesday night. However, they were also hit with a sea of misinformation from Donald Trump and his MAGA minions.
Current Events :
In his typical game of partisan politics, Donald Trump has been busy creating “alternative facts” regarding the Biden/Harris administration’s response to the dual hurricanes that have rocked Florida over the past 2 weeks.
To rev up his MAGA faithful during several recent rallies, Trump falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris “spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants, many of whom should not be in our country.” Next, he mixed in a false conspiracy theory, saying, “They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to the illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Trump claimed that the federal government is purposely neglecting getting relief aid to areas with Republican voters. He also said President Biden and Vice President Harris “are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina.”
Too bad for him, but the Republican governors of South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee each negated Trump’s lie and even praised the speed of the Biden/Harris response.
Following Trump’s lead, the MAGA faithful followed in his footsteps with more false foolishness.
“Yes they can control the weather,” GOP nut job Marjorie Taylor Greene alleged while attempting to convince everyone that Democrats are controlling the hurricanes for some nefarious political advantage. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
Soon thereafter, Tesla and Twitter owner (and Donald Trump flunkie) Elon Musk grabbed the MAGA baton from MTG and ran away with it.
According to POLITICO, Musk took to Twitter/X to spread false accusations that the Federal Emergency Management Agency “actively blocked” donations to victims of Helene and is “seizing goods … and locking them away to state they are their own.” He also circulated false rumors that undocumented immigrants had already depleted federal disaster relief funds, which FEMA has repeatedly called categorically untrue.
“FEMA used up its budget ferrying illegals into the country instead of saving American lives. Treason,” Musk wrote without evidence on Twitter/X.
Not surprisingly, saner minds have had it up to here with the misinformation from Trump, MTG, and Musk — particularly during yet another national disaster — and are fighting mad.
“Over the last few weeks, there has been a reckless, irresponsible, and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people,” President Biden said on Wednesday.
“It’s undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken, and it’s harmful to those who need help the most,” Mr. Biden added. “There is simply no place for this to happen.
“Former President Trump has led the onslaught of lies,” Mr. Biden continued. “Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated. That’s simply not true. They’re saying people impacted by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That’s simply not true. They’re saying the money needed for this crisis is being diverted to migrants. What a ridiculous thing to say, it’s not true.
“Now the claims are getting even more bizarre. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman of Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather. We’re controlling the weather. It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s so stupid. It’s got to stop!” the president concluded.
Vice President Harris also had a few choice words for Donald Trump’s misinformation campaign.
“People are losing their homes with no hope of ever being able to reconstruct or return. And the idea that somebody would be playing political games for the sake of himself. But, this is so consistent about Donald Trump. He puts himself before the needs of others. I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a leader is not to beat people down, it’s to lift people up. Absolutely. Especially in a time of crisis,” Ms. Harris said during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Even Republicans have begun to break rank with Trump by reminding him that a deadly hurricane is not the time nor place to instigate partisan politics and outright lies.
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who already endorsed Trump, debunked several claims he has repeatedly fueled.
“We have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations, and we don’t need any of these distractions on the ground,” Tillis said Sunday on CBS’ Face The Nation. “It’s at the expense of the hard-working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their lives.”
On Wednesday, GOP Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida called out Marjorie Taylor Greene by telling her to get her “head examined” for suggesting someone is “controlling the weather.”
GOP Sen. Mitt Romney also took aim at the Trump/MAGA lies.
“Former President Trump told us that the people in Springfield are eating dogs and cats, alright? He likewise said that FEMA money, our emergency money, instead of helping the people that are being hit by the hurricane is being used to help illegals,” Romney said during a political event in Utah.
“He just makes it up. So he is able to spew enough disinformation that the Chinese must be smiling.”
Romney added: “When it comes to a holiday from the truth, he’s taken the longest vacation.”
Granted, the Trump misinformation has gotten totally out of control. However, will voters hold it against him come November 5th?
OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
The Trump/MAGA misinformation is out of hand.
MSNBC: That it has taken two natural disasters — Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton — for some Republicans to realize that “some government functions need to be above politics” is “enraging,” Chris Hayes said Wednesday. The MSNBC host referenced misinformation shared by Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene among others. “So here are the facts,” Hayes said. “FEMA has enough funding in the short term to address immediate needs for both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, and there is no funding connection between shelter for migrants and funding for disaster relief. There is no intermingling of funds between these two programs.” “That’s not me saying it,” he continued. “It’s the Republicans in charge of the House Appropriations Committee in a fact sheet they shared yesterday with Chad Pergram, the Congressional reporter for Fox, because they felt the urgent need to push back on a lie that is being spread… Read more »