XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, or.politics, alt.politics.trump   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.atheism   
   From: X@Y.com   
      
   Fact Check   
   Trump’s False Claims About the Federal Response to Hurricane Helene   
   The former president falsely accused the Biden administration of spending   
   disaster funding on migrants, neglecting areas that had voted for   
   Republicans and ignoring a call from a Republican governor.   
      
   Former President Donald J. Trump, wearing a blue suit, a red tie and a red   
   Make America Great Again hat, stands in front of a destroyed brick building   
   with a crowd behind him.   
   Former President Donald J. Trump on Monday at a furniture store in   
   Valdosta, Ga., destroyed by Hurricane Helene.Credit...Doug Mills/The New   
   York Times   
   Linda Qiu   
   By Linda Qiu   
   Reporting from Washington   
   Oct. 4, 2024, 6:54 p.m. ET   
   After Hurricane Helene battered several Southeastern states last week,   
   former President Donald J. Trump wasted no time in criticizing President   
   Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the federal government’s   
   response — often making false accusations.   
   Mr. Trump’s supporters, including Elon Musk and Republicans on the House   
   Judiciary Committee, have seized on the claims, parroting his talking   
   points to undercut the administration.   
   Here’s a fact check of Mr. Trump’s recent remarks.   
   What Was Said   
   “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for   
   illegal migrants.”   
   — Mr. Trump at a rally in Michigan on Thursday   
   False. Funding for migrant shelters did not amount to “billions of   
   dollars,” nor did it deplete the coffers of the Federal Emergency   
   Management Agency. And no disaster funding has been spent on those   
   shelters.   
   FEMA, like all other federal agencies, receives funding from Congress for   
   specific functions. Its disaster relief fund received almost $36 billion in   
   funding for the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September. Outside that   
   fund, FEMA also received more than $5 billion for its National Flood   
   Insurance Program; more than $1.5 billion for personnel, procurement and   
   facilities; and almost $4 billion for federal grant programs it   
   administers.   
   Mr. Trump’s allies have specifically focused on one of those initiatives,   
   the Shelter and Services Program. Created in 2023 by Congress, the program   
   doles out grants to groups and localities that provide shelter and other   
   services to migrants released from the custody of the Department of   
   Homeland Security, which FEMA is a part of. Its $650 million in funding for   
   the 2024 fiscal year came from Customs and Border Protection’s budget. That   
   amount is equal to less than 2 percent of the disaster relief funding and   
   even less compared with FEMA’s total funding for that fiscal year.   
   In other words, the shelter program and the disaster relief fund have two   
   separate streams of funding. A spokeswoman from FEMA also said the Biden   
   administration has never diverted any disaster relief funding for migrant   
   shelters or any other purpose, adding that the claims from Mr. Trump and   
   others are “completely false.”   
   Officials have said that there is enough money to address immediate rescue-   
   and-recovery needs that arise from Hurricane Helene’s destruction, but   
   cleanup could cost billions more and FEMA does not have enough funding for   
   additional storms.   
   In late September, President Biden signed into law short-term funding that   
   extended 2024 fiscal year funding levels through Dec. 20. It specifically   
   gave FEMA access to a full year’s worth of disaster relief funding. In a   
   news conference on Wednesday, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security   
   secretary, acknowledged that FEMA could “dip into funds that are slated for   
   the duration of the year to meet immediate needs.”   
   “But that doesn’t speak about the future and the fact, as I mentioned   
   earlier, that these extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and   
   severity, and we have to be funded for the sake of the American people,” he   
   added. “This is not a political issue.”   
   Moreover, it is unclear how much funding earmarked for migrant shelters   
   FEMA could legally divert for disaster relief, at least without   
   congressional approval. The funding package for the 2024 fiscal year, and   
   in turn the short-term funding extension, specifies that funding dedicated   
   to homeland security cannot be repurposed in a way that augments or reduces   
   funding for existing programs by 10 percent.   
   What Was Said   
   “I’ll be there shortly, but don’t like the reports that I’m getting about   
   the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out   
   of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”   
   — Mr. Trump in a post on Truth Social on Monday   
   This lacks evidence. While some have criticized the federal response and   
   emergency responders faced obstacles in reaching some areas, there is no   
   evidence that the Biden administration was purposefully ignoring the needs   
   of Republican areas. In fact, Republican governors have praised the Biden   
   administration for its response, and FEMA has designated counties in   
   several states — including dozens won by Mr. Trump in the 2020 presidential   
   election — as eligible to apply for federal assistance.   
   The Republican governors of Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee have all   
   thanked the federal government and described the federal response as fast.   
   Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, also a Republican, said that FEMA had been   
   embedded in the state operations center in Atlanta since before the storm   
   hit and “we got a great relationship with them.”   
   FEMA has said it has deployed more than 1,000 personnel across the affected   
   areas to deliver more than 1.9 million meals, over one million liters of   
   water, 30 generators and more than 95,000 tarps.   
   Of more than 20 counties designated in Florida as eligible for individual   
   and public assistance, as of Oct. 3, Mr. Trump lost just three in the 2020   
   election (Leon, Pinellas and Hillsborough). Of more than 20 in North   
   Carolina, as of Oct. 2, Mr. Trump lost just two (Buncombe and Watauga). And   
   of about 15 counties in South Carolina, as of Sept. 29, Mr. Trump lost just   
   one (Bamberg).   
   What Was Said   
   “He’s been calling the president, hasn’t been able to get him.”   
   — Mr. Trump at a news conference on Monday   
   False. Mr. Trump was referring to Mr. Kemp, who earlier that day spoke   
   about his phone call on Sunday with Mr. Biden.   
   Mr. Kemp said that when Mr. Biden initially reached out on Sunday, he   
   missed the call but he “called him right back.”   
   “He just said, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ And I told him: ‘You know, we got   
   what we need. We’ll work through the federal process.’ He offered that if   
   there’s other things we need, just to call him directly, which I appreciate   
   that,” Mr. Kemp added.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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