The head of the Federal Emergency Management Administration is expressing concern that “lies” spread by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others about the federal response to Tropical Storm Helene will discourage victims in western North Carolina from seeking assistance.

In an interview Monday aired on Blue Ridge Public Radio, FEMA Director Deanne Criswell was asked if the recovery effort was being affected by “misinformation” circulated by critics of the agency, a reference to former President Trump although he wasn’t named.  

“I think the thing I was the most concerned about is, I want people who have been impacted to register for assistance,” Criswell said. “And what I don’t want is somebody who is listening to lies to then not get into our system and get the type of assistance that they’re eligible for and they deserve.”

Her remarks overlapped closely with Trump’s campaign appearance Monday afternoon in Swannanoa, where he persisted in making debunked claims about FEMA’s response. He visited a small section of the flood-devastated town east of Asheville and met with local Republican politicians and supporters whose businesses were damaged.   

The event was held on a site still strewn with wrecked buildings and vehicles and was attended only by invited supporters, Republican office holders, and a small group of reporters. In his remarks and under questioning by the press, he repeated the false charge that FEMA was “broke” because it had diverted disaster-relief funding from the region to assist “illegal migrants” crossing the southern border.  

He also claimed that local victims “felt helpless and abandoned and left behind by their government” and were dependent upon the efforts by private citizens and first responders for help. “Certainly you have all heard the same stories that we hear that FEMA has done a very poor job,” Trump said.

These and other claims have been repeatedly challenged and disproven by local government officials, among them Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, whose 11th District encompasses the hardest hit counties in western North Carolina. Edwards, in a news release a week after the storm, called such claims “hoaxes.”

Edwards also posted a new report Monday beginning with the statement that  FEMA “is showing up for the people of western North Carolina” and provided details that undermine Trump’s criticism. 

Although Edwards said FEMA’s response had “a rocky start” with “hiccups here and there,” he reported that it has assigned 1,500 responders to the region; registered 6,900 people for individual assistance; set up 14 Disaster Recovery Centers across six counties, and accepted more than 206,000 applications for assistance. 

“FEMA’s response has been far from perfect,” he concluded, “but the Disaster Survivor Assistance teams and Disaster Recovery Centers are showing up for the people of Western North Carolina. They are staffed by folk who want to help and are providing much-needed assistance to our mountains.”     

Although the report had been circulated by his office before the Trump appearance, Edwards stood silently behind Trump as he attacked FEMA and repeated some of the false claims. He praised Trump for the visit and getting “dust on your shoes,” a dig at President Biden and Vice President Harris who toured the area by helicopter to avoid disrupting relief and rescue operations.

Also attending the gathering was state House Speaker Tim Moore, who is seeking a congressional seat with Trump’s support. Moore joined the criticism of the Biden administration’s response by saying he “had not gotten a single call from the White House, but this man [Trump] and his team have been in touch with us from day one.”
The Washington Post reported in a story Monday that White House telephone logs show several calls between Biden administration staff and Moore’s office relating to the response. 

Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and dean emeritus from Boston University who lives in Asheville. Email him at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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