Trump Robbed FEMA

Hurricane Helene has decimated the Southeastern coast of the United States and a Category 5 hurricane called Milton is barrelling towards the same areas. But amid the disaster, some dangerous lies are being spread by the man who stole millions from the government agency set up to help when disaster strikes.

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Republican governors from Florida, Georgia, and many other states are in constant communication with President Biden, Vice-President Harris, and members of Congress to get every bit of help they need to help evacuate affected areas and get out of the way for the second major hurricane in just two weeks to hit the east coast.

The National Guard is on the ground and President Biden has sent every available resource including FEMA to help immediately.

President Biden: "I directed my team to provide every available resource as fast as possible to your communities."

But while people are still trapped, hundreds have died, and another storm is on its way, convicted felon Donald Trump is talking a lot about the hurricanes and none of it seems to be true.

There are four...

Donald Trump: "Yuge"

...lies Trump has been spewing this week which cause severe danger to those affected. In last week's episode, we covered how Trump is seemingly trying to steal funds from a GoFundMe his team set up to help victims of the hurricane. But in the comments of that episode, we heard from many folks repeating these same four wild lies. So, today let's clear them up with the facts.

First is the claim that FEMA will run out of money because Biden and Harris stole it to give it to migrants. Trump said "They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank..." This was then shared by his good friend Elon Musk and then by millions of their followers as if it were the truth.

So, what is the truth? Well, FEMA stands for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and it gets its funding under the Department of Homeland Security. Its funding is capped every year by Congress but with climate change, more emergencies like hurricanes are happening more frequently so every year, FEMA has to apply to Congress for additional funding if needed.

As for the current hurricanes, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary said this week that they have all the funding needed to meet the immediate needs of states affected by Helene and Milton. To their credit, Congress even passed a $20 billion short-term spending bill to give them even more funding for the hurricanes. So, they aren't running out of money like Trump claims.

The Department of Homeland Security even said there is "...no evidence that any money from the disaster fund was used to help migrants...These claims are completely false."

You should also know that in 2019, when he was president, Donald Trump told Congress to take $271 million away from the Department of Homeland Security, including $155 million away from FEMA's disaster fund. Trump told them to reappropriate this money to pay for immigration detention centers instead.

FEMA reports show that over $38 million was taken from the disaster fund under Trump's direction and given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August 2019 just before hurricane season that year.

So, the claim that FEMA is running out of money is false. The claim Biden or Harris stole money from FEMA's disaster fund to pay for immigration reform is also false. But just like with almost every accusation Trump makes, it's actually an admission of guilt and Donald Trump was the one to steal funding away from FEMA to pay for detention centers at the southern border right before hurricane season that year.

The second claim Trump is making and his followers are repeating is that President Biden and Vice-President Harris are only giving out $750 to victims of the hurricane.

So, where did this claim come from? Well, Kamala Harris announced on October 2nd that $750 in emergency assistance is available for the immediate needs of victims of the hurricanes. But she mentioned that the $750 was just one of the many forms of assistance the federal government is providing.

The $750 is just the first round of aid and it's a fund to help immediately instead of having to apply and wait to get approved for more. Basically speaking, the 750 is to help victims get gas money and transportation needed to evacuate the area immediately before Hurricane Milton hits later this week. Once victims are safely evacuated, then they can apply from a safe location to get the help they need to go back later and rebuild but the 750 gets them out of harm's way as fast as possible.

The other forms of assistance available on FEMA's website include emergency food, water, unemployment benefits, mortgage assistance, home repair loans, small business loans, and more. All of which Kamala Harris also mentioned. But in a viral Instagram post on a conservative channel, the post cut off all of Kamala Harris' other program announcements and only mentioned the $750.

It appears Trump saw that viral post, then repeated the lie, and then his followers blindly followed like they always do and repeated it too. When you consider most of the states that are affected are red states listening to Trump, this becomes dangerous. All of these programs are available on FEMA's website but most of the victims won't know about them because they're listening to Trump say that Biden and Harris are only sending them $750 checks.

Now, why would Trump lie about this? Well, that's an easy one. He's trying to secure the vote in these red states because if he can make victims believe Biden and Harris aren't doing anything, then it's pretty easy to promise the victims that you'll do something to help them if only you vote for him. It's a scummy way to get votes but seemingly, nothing is beneath Trump at this point.

The third claim is that federal aid in North Carolina is being denied so the federal government can steal the land for mining lithium. Rumors started circulating on right-wing sites saying there was a "town meeting" where officials in Chimney Rock, North Carolina would bulldoze the town and the federal government would start mining lithium.

Trump Supporter: "...government sent in with whatever it is that they do. I don't know all the specifics about it. I'm not an expert in cloud seeding or whatever it is that they use to magnify the storm to a higher degree. To disturb a land that maybe wanted for lithium that Harris' husband is partaking in."

Local officials have said that no "special meeting" was held and say the rumors "are entirely false." In fact, local officials are "actively working to reconstruct damaged infrastructure in the town." and FEMA says in its new "Rumor Response" page that the agency cannot seize a resident's property or land.

Please keep in mind, this agency is meant to be working on helping victims recover but they need to dedicate so much time and effort on a page specifically designed to combat the false rumors Trump is spreading. And yet, he wants to be president and has millions of people convinced that would be a good idea.

Perhaps the most damning claim Trump made this past week was taking credit for a real charity's hard work. On September 30th, Trump visited Georgia where he said, "We came down with truckloads of different items, from oil to water. We're here today to stand with complete solidarity with the people of Georgia and all those suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene."

Afterwards, Trump's team ran away with this "truckloads" comment on social media but the only problem was, Trump did not actually bring any trucks with him. The trucks he's referring to are well labeled with the signage of a real charity called Samaritan's Purse which has trucks wrapped with imagery of hurricanes because they go to a lot of hurricane disaster sites and they have no affiliation with Donald Trump.

So, Samaritan's Purse paid for those trucks to be there and all the supplies handed out from inside of them. But yet Donald Trump took credit for those trucks anyway and claimed they were his donation to the hurricane victims.

As of this taping, Donald Trump has not donated a single penny to the victims of the hurricanes and has yet to bring a single truck of his own with any supplies to help. Yet, all week we've been getting thousands of comments saying Trump donated $25 million and brought truckloads of supplies down to help. If so, where is that $25 million and where are those trucks because they're certainly not in the affected areas of the hurricanes right now?

And for the record, last week we talked about the GoFundMe Trump's team set up where his followers could donate and Trump could "forward" those donations to those who need it most. But then Trump allegedly claimed his Mar-a-Lago property was hit by the storm, which it wasn't, and that he was a victim that needed help too. That GoFundMe is now up to over $7 million but as of this taping, no charity has claimed to have received any of the money from Trump. So, where is the money, Donald?

Again, it's appalling that this election is this close where literally every single person who shows up on November 5th may be the deciding vote to who wins the presidency. How is it this close between a man with no heart, who's seemingly stealing from hurricane victims and literally taking credit for the work of real charities for his own campaign, and a woman who is working night and day to help victims get the help they need even though they're from majorly red areas that will never vote for her no matter how much she does to help them?

Please use the unbiased link below to register to vote, find your polling place, and make a plan to take all your friends to vote with you on November 5th. And please use our sources link below to find a full list of all of our sources to this episode.

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