Former President Donald Trump faces a new wave of criticism after doubling down on false claims pertaining to hurricane response efforts by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Trump and several of his allies spread misinformation about the response from FEMA and President Joe Biden's administration since Hurricane Helene tore through a region extending from Florida to North Carolina late last month, leaving over 200 people dead and delivering massive damage to infrastructure.
During a campaign stop in North Carolina on Monday, the ex-president was asked about a man who was arrested earlier this month on charges of "going armed to the terror of the public" after urging others to help him "overtake" a FEMA site in the Tar Heel State.
Trump did not disavow threats against the agency and rejected the idea that saying FEMA "was not doing their job" had hindered recovery efforts, with the former president instead repeating the false claim that the agency's disaster relief funds were being diverted to illegal migrants.
"I think you have to let people know how they're doing," Trump said. "These people are entitled to say it ... Look, a lot of the money is gone ... it's all gone. They've spent it on illegal migrants."
"They spent money to bring people into our country and they don't have money to take care of the people from North Carolina and other states," he added. "I think you have to be able to speak."
While some FEMA money has been spent to house migrants, the funds are part of a program that is entirely separate and unrelated to the FEMA disaster fund, which the agency has said had enough funds to deal with Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
Trump's remarks in North Carolina were quickly denounced on social media by fact- checkers, the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the White House and critics of the former president.
"At a press conference in Asheville, North Carolina, Trump repeated the false claim that FEMA has no money to help Hurricane Helene victims because the money was spent bringing immigrants illegally into the United States," fact-checking organization PolitiFact wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Wow—Trump is asked about armed gunman threatening FEMA workers and refuses to condemn," Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams wrote while sharing a video clip of Trump's comments.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates shared an article from the Associated Press pointing out that Trump's claim about FEMA was false and that Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, who has denounced FEMA misinformation, was standing behind the former president as he made the claim.
"Trump has endangered and destroyed countless lives with COVID, the climate, and the January 6 insurrection," wrote anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project. "Now he threatens American citizens again, encouraging violence against FEMA workers who bring aid during a crisis. The only 'enemy from within' is Donald Trump."
"Donald Trump won't stop lying about FEMA funds in Asheville, NC," wrote Art Candee, an X account frequently critical of Trump. "The funding for sheltering immigrants and migrants is separate from FEMA's hurricane relief funds, and both were passed by Congress. Vile man."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Trump campaign via email on Monday.
Trump's other recent false claims about the federal government's hurricane response include the notion that "Republican areas" were denied relief in the aftermath of Helene and that Republican governors were unable to get prompt assistance from Biden, despite the governors saying otherwise.
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