President Joe Biden tore into Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for insinuating that the hurricanes battering the southeast United States, far from being natural phenomena, were actually manufactured by the federal government. Such misinformation, he said, risks further endangering lives and provoking division as his administration works to mitigate damage and send relief to affected areas.
“It’s so stupid. It’s got to stop, moments like this, there are no red or blue states,” Biden said at virtual briefing Wednesday about Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida later that evening. He began the briefing with an overview of the hurricane's projected path before addressing comments made by Greene and her conspiratorial allies, which earned ridicule and condemnation by Florida Republicans as well.
“The last few weeks, there’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies,” Biden said. “It’s undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken. It’s harmful to those who need help the most.”
Greene last week told her 1.2 million X followers that, "Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done." She later posted a meme with a list of patents to suggest "they" do indeed have the technology to manipulate the climate.
Biden ridiculed the notion Wednesday.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather,” Biden said. “We’re controlling the weather. It’s beyond ridiculous.”
He also called out former President Donald Trump for fanning the flames with a set of falsehoods that include false claims of Biden "sleeping" during the hurricanes and his government redirecting FEMA money to house undocumented immigrants.
"Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated. That’s simply not true,” Biden confirmed, referring to another lie spread by Trump. “They’re saying people impacted by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That’s simply not true. They’re saying the money needed for this crisis is being diverted to migrants. What a ridiculous thing to say. It’s not true.”
When a reporter asked Biden why Trump was making those claims, the president shook his head, telling the pool: "I simply don’t know. You can speculate, but I just find it — I’ve used the phrase more than I’ve used it ever my whole career — un-American.”
Later on Wednesday, Greene issued a clarification that offered little insight. “Everyone keeps asking, ‘who is they?’” she wrote on X. “Well some of them are listed on NOAA,” a reference to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a federal agency that forecasts the weather. A community note clarified that, beyond small-scale operations like cloud seeding to create local rain, no human effort can directly manipulate weather events like hurricanes. Global warming caused by emissions and other long-term human activity, however, certainly can.
