Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) shared a post by the anti-MAGA group The Lincoln Project that chastised former President Donald Trump for “spreading lies” in the wake of the horrible devastation caused in the Southeastern United States by Hurricane Helene.
That Swalwell would share information belittling Trump is no surprise — the Democrat is an outspoken anti-Trump member of Congress. But that Swalwell’s take on the events would align with reports from numerous top Republican lawmakers makes this attack on Trump different.
Elected Republicans across the region repudiated Trump’s insinuation that the Biden-Harris administration deliberately failed to provide adequate assistance to the storm-battered areas, and that the administration was unresponsive to requests from battered states.
Hurricane Helene has revealed a lot about Donald Trump. When Americans needed support, he spread lies and put the spotlight on himself instead. It unveiled more of his selfish past. It showed his self-centered instincts. He thought about himself and it showed.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 5, 2024
Swalwell is responding to numerous Trump statements aimed to strike perceived political vulnerabilities in the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris, turning the tragedy of Helene into a political weapon and — because it is a top GOP issue — putting immigration into his equation.
Trump falsely told a Michigan crowd on Saturday that the FEMA response to Helene was inadequate because “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.”
Trump also stoked a rumor that Republican-leaning areas in the hardest hit states were receiving less help than more liberal areas, citing “reports” for which he offered no source and which, again, lawmakers in the region — including Republicans — refuted.
Before visiting the region himself, Trump told a rally crowd that he didn’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.”
(Trump is referring to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who reported in the storm’s aftermath that a “total of 53 search and rescue teams from North Carolina and beyond, consisting of more than 1600 personnel, are conducting search and rescue operations. The teams have interacted with over 5400 people, including assists, evacuations and rescues.”)
Also refuting the charges made by Trump were Republican Governors Brian Kemp (Georgia), Glenn Youngkin (Virginia), Bill Lee (Tennessee) and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, who called federal assistance “superb” and reported that he had spoken personally both to President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who offered him whatever South Carolina needed.