In North Carolina, Trump refuses to denounce threats to FEMA and doubles down on falsehoods

SWANNANOA, N.C. - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump declined to condemn violent threats to Federal Emergency Management Agency workers providing relief to Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene, instead criticizing the government’s storm response using false allegations.

Asked during a news conference here about whether the former president is harming the recovery effort after a man was arrested for threatening federal relief workers this month, Trump responded by repeating falsehoods, including those the suspect said motivated him. Trump did not offer any concern for the workers’ safety or a denunciation of violence.

“Does that mean that if they’re doing a poor job, we’re supposed to not say it?” Trump said on Monday. “I think you have to be able to speak. Does that mean let’s not talk about it? Because by doing that, they’ll do a better job the next time.”

Trump went on to repeat a false allegation that FEMA diverted disaster relief money for migrant housing. The agency has separate funds for disaster relief and migrant services, and Congress approved money for both. The Department of Homeland Security has said no storm relief money went to migrant shelters.

During the Trump administration, however, FEMA reported using $271 million from DHS programs, including $155 million from the disaster fund, for immigration detention space and temporary asylum hearing locations.

“A lot of the money is gone. They don’t have any money,” Trump said, falsely, on Monday. “They’ve spent it on illegal migrants.”

The danger to FEMA workers in North Carolina temporarily disrupted relief efforts this month as teams relocated. The suspect, William Jacob Parsons, told a local news station that he was upset about social media reports falsely accusing FEMA of withholding supplies in North Carolina.

“In exploiting people’s pain for political purposes, Trump is giving the wink-and-nod to violence against selfless heroes working to help people make it through the worst time of their lives,” Ian Sams, a spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris, said in a statement. “Yet again, we’re seeing how Trump’s increasingly unhinged and unstable behavior is putting Americans at risk.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized Trump for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories that endanger relief workers.

“That type of misinformation - conspiracy theories - is only hurtful,” she said on Monday. “It’s un-American. It’s dangerous, and it should stop.”

Many elected officials in the state, including Republicans such as Sen. Thom Tillis and the Rutherford County commission chairman, have said such misinformation makes it harder to provide relief to people in need.

“As we still navigate the process of search and recovery, we beg that people do not share misleading, inflated, or sensationalized information from uninformed sources,” Swannanoa deputy fire and rescue chief Larry Pierson said on Facebook.

Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina) released a statement Oct. 8 titled “Debunking Helene Response Myths,” saying that FEMA was not diverting funds to the border or running out of money. Edwards appeared with Trump here on Monday, complimenting his appearance at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania on Sunday.

Another Republican lawmaker who joined Trump here on Monday, state house speaker Tim Moore, falsely said he hadn’t received any contact from the White House. An Oct. 4 email obtained by The Washington Post indicated he spoke that week with Lindsey Volz, a senior adviser in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

“As the speaker of the State House, I’ve not gotten a single call from the White House,” Moore said incorrectly. A spokeswoman said he meant he hadn’t heard from the president or vice president.

Trump also misstated the deadline to request absentee ballots in North Carolina. The deadline is Oct. 29, according to the state board of elections.

“If you had to relocate because of the storm, you do not have to return to your home county; you can request a ballot for your temporary housing location, but you need to make sure you do it today,” Trump said, incorrectly. “Today’s your last day.”

A Trump campaign official said that Trump was trying to give his supporters enough time to return their ballot before Election Day.

Trump has repeatedly insisted, falsely, that Democrats cheated in the 2020 election. Yet when asked Monday about whether there was any reason to believe that the results of the election in North Carolina would not be legitimate because of the storm, he said: “I have not heard any complaints about that.” Trump also said he hadn’t seen any cheating but added: “We’re very early in the process.”

Trump delivered the remarks next to a Diamondback 4x4 garage, surrounded by the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene - close to abandoned cars and piles of wreckage.

He repeated the same falsehoods again during a rally later on Monday in Greenville, North Carolina.

“They spent their money on illegal migrants,” he said of FEMA. “They didn’t have any money left for North Carolina.”