Speaking at the White House on Wednesday ahead of the landfall in Florida of Hurricane Milton, which left a trail of flooding, tornadoes, wind damage, and power loss, President Joe Biden condemned the conspiracy theories recently spreading amid the latest governmental storm response efforts, which began with the recent Hurricane Helene.
Claims include the insistence from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that authorities “stole” disaster relief money to use on undocumented immigrants, which is not true, according to multiple sources. Trump also trumpeted the claim that Republican-leaning areas were being stiffed amid the storm response.
“Over the last few weeks, there has been reckless and irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies about what’s going on,” Biden told his listeners.
“It’s undermining confidence in the people in Florida and the incredible rescue and recovery work that has been undertaken. Literally, there are thousands of fellow Americans who are putting their lives at stake and putting it on the line to do the dangerous work that needs to be done now. And it’s harmful to those who most need the help. Quite frankly, these lies are un-American. And there is simply no place for them — not now, not ever. Former President Trump has led this onslaught of lies.”
And the president specifically called out the notion of disaster relief money going towards undocumented immigrants instead, adding: “What the hell — heck are they talking about? Stop it. It’s outrageous. It’s just not true.”
On Thursday, efforts to assess the damage in Florida and continue with any needed rescues were continuing.