U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator DeAnne Criswell speaks during a press conference at the White House on September 26, 2024 in Washington, USA.
Elizabeth Franz | Reuters
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Deanne Criswell on Sunday criticized former President Donald Trump for spreading misinformation about how the Biden administration allocated disaster relief funds for Hurricane Helen recovery.
“It’s frankly ridiculous and completely false,” Criswell said. interview on ABC’s “This Week.” “This kind of rhetoric doesn’t help people. It’s really unfortunate that they’re putting politics before helping people.”
With hurricane season in full swing, President Trump falsely claimed last week that FEMA was running out of money to support disaster relief efforts because the White House had used the money “on illegal immigrants coming into the country.”
FEMA and other agencies have since fact-checked the false information.
Regarding FEMA’s “Response to Rumors” web pagethe agency specifically noted allegations that FEMA disaster relief funds were “diverted to support international efforts and border-related issues.”
“This is false. Funds will not be diverted to disaster response needs,” the agency wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House issued their own statements confirming the facts and condemning the false claims.
But the Trump campaign and allies of the former president, including the CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Muskhas continued to spread disinformation about Helen’s recovery efforts and sought to turn the devastating hurricane into a campaign attack against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Criswell criticized the rhetoric Sunday as “demoralizing to all first responders who have been helping people in our communities.”
FEMA, which has been operating on a tight budget over the past year, received a roughly $20 billion cash infusion from a stopgap funding bill passed by Congress to avert a government shutdown and took effect last Tuesday.
White House officials and representatives from Helen-affected areas said Congress will likely need to pass additional disaster relief legislation to further support FEMA’s recovery efforts.
