The New York Times has not yet updated its fact-check of President-elect Donald Trump’s claim the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not helping people in Republican areas, despite FEMA confirming an official was fired for that very reason.
Trump posted on Truth Social on September 30, 2024, following Hurricane Helene:
We are now heading to Valdosta, Georgia, in order to pay my respects and bring lots of relief material, including fuel, equipment, water, and other things, to the State. Many politicians and Law Enforcement will be there. We’ll be saying hello to Franklin Graham, Burt Jones, Tyler Harper, Mike Collins, Austin Scott, Russ Goodman, Sam Watson, and the Mayor of Valdosta Scott James. They are working very hard. I was also going to stop into North Carolina, which has really been hit hard. I have a lot of supplies ready for them, but access and communication is now restricted, and we want to make sure that Local Emergency Management is able to focus on helping the people most affected, and not being concerned with me. I’ll be there shortly, but don’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. MAGA!
The Times reported on October 4, 2024,
This lacks evidence. While some have criticized the federal response and emergency responders faced obstacles in reaching some areas, there is no evidence that the Biden administration was purposefully ignoring the needs of Republican areas. In fact, Republican governors have praised the Biden administration for its response, and FEMA has designated counties in several states — including dozens won by Mr. Trump in the 2020 presidential election — as eligible to apply for federal assistance.
The Republican governors of Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee have all thanked the federal government and described the federal response as fast. Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, also a Republican, said that FEMA had been embedded in the state operations center in Atlanta since before the storm hit and ‘we got a great relationship with them.’
However, the Daily Wire recently reported that a FEMA official named Marn’i Washington, who was in charge of disaster relief crews in Highlands County, Florida, had instructed her disaster relief crew in Placid Lake, Florida, to skip homes “advertising Trump.”
After the report, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell confirmed that Washington did so, and was terminated.
The Times has not yet updated its fact-check of Trump.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha posted on X, along with a screenshot of the Times’ headline: “No retraction coming correct?”
Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X”, Truth Social, or on Facebook.
