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President Joe Biden on Wednesday slammed his predecessor for leading a massive campaign of misinformation and disinformation that is hampering efforts to help Americans harmed by Hurricane Helene and protect them from the damage that is sure to be wrought by Hurricane Milton when it hits Florida later this week.
Speaking during a briefing alongside administration officials at the White House, Biden said he has been in “constant contact” with governors from all of the states affected by Milton and Helene — Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia — and stressed that the governors have been ”very thankful and appreciative of the help the federal government is providing.”
“I’m appreciative of all they’re doing as well. I’ve told them to contact me with anything else they need. We have made available an unprecedented number of assets to deal with this crisis. We’re going to continue to do so until the job is done,” he said.
But Biden also said he wanted to be “clear” about what he described as “reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies” that are “disturbing people” and “undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been undertaken and will continue to be undertaken.”
“It’s harmful to those who need help the most. There’s simply no place for this to happen,” he said.
The president blamed his predecessor, former president Donald Trump, for leading “this onslaught of lies” about relief efforts, including claims that the government is using the disaster to seize property.
“That’s simply not true,” Biden said.
He also said other claims about storm victims only being entitled to $750 worth of relief “and nothing more” are similarly “not true,” and shot down claims that relief funds are being redirected to help migrants as “a ridiculous thing to say.”
Biden also ridiculed a suggestion from Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene that the storms are being purposefully created by the government through some form of secret weather control technology.
“It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s got to stop,” he said before adding that in “moments like this” there are “no red or blue states.”
“There’s one United States of America, where neighbors are helping neighbors, volunteers and first responders are risking everything, including their own lives, to help their fellow Americans. State, local and federal officials are standing side by side,” he said.
Trump and his allies have been letting loose with a steady stream of false claims about Biden administration’s response efforts since Helene left devastation across a wide swath of the American southeast earlier this month.
Right-wing media figures and influences on the X platform (formerly Twitter) have claimed that the government is deliberately withholding aid to areas that typically vote for Republicans and have suggested that Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel are undermining relief efforts by private actors and charities.
Vice President Kamala Harris also slammed the disinformation campaign during a phone interview with CNN shortly after she and Biden were briefed by officials.
Speaking to anchor Dana Bash, she said it is “dangerous” and “unconscionable” for Trump or “anyone who consider themselves a leader” to “mislead desperate people to the point that those desperate people would not receive the aid to which they are entitled.”
“We all know it‘s dangerous. And the gamesmanship has to stop at some point — the politics have to end,” she said.
