As Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton continue to terrorize the US South, FEMA continues to push federal aid to relief efforts. However, there have been reports of armed militia out to stop FEMA from their relief efforts.
This past weekend, on Saturday, October 12th, North Carolina FEMA officials relocated after a perceived threat of a 44 year old North Carolinian after he was found with a loaded handgun and a rifle and was making threats to hurt FEMA employees. He was charged with “going armed to the terror of the public.”
But this isn’t the only reason FEMA chose to withdraw from North Carolina.
While not directly related to Parsons, a Forest Service official says that FEMA had advised them to relocate workers, saying that US military personnel “had come across… trucks of armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA.” This ended up being false and Parsons was the only active person they found trying to hurt FEMA. In the following days, FEMA will be returning to going door to door to help the hurricane effort.
This is just one of many Republican conspiracy theories perpetuated by their party less than 30 days before the election. US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia started the conspiracy theory that the government controls the weather. This has been perpetuated by other Republicans who claim that democrats have been manipulating the weather in the South to prevent Republicans from voting for Trump. They also claim that Democrats are trying to make themselves look better with how they are handling a hurricane like this, while also claiming that FEMA isn’t doing anything. Trump has personally claimed that FEMA is broken and isn’t actually helping hurricane victims because, as he claims, the Biden-Harris administration redirected funds for FEMA to handle the surge of migrants from the southern border.
“They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank.” Meanwhile if they actually did this it would be illegal. FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which gives grants to local governments and nonprofits to take care of undocumented immigrants and has no relation to FEMA’s disaster relief authorities or funding. Grants can’t just be taken back, or redirected by the Federal Government without the consent of the states.
The reason he made this claim was because FEMA began making claims that they wouldn’t have enough money to last out the storm if it continued. This is true but not because they weren’t given enough money, because Biden continues to send money into FEMA as recently . He has not taken from it. Trump meanwhile has. In 2019, Trump actually took between 155 million to 271 million dollars to pay for immigration detention space and hearing locations for asylum seekers in Mexico.
As we head closer and closer to the primary election, the question still stands how this will affect the vote. Have Republicans lost all trust that Democrats have their states in mind? Will the rhetoric pushed by Trump continue to spread throughout all the parties?
Interestingly, Harris has actually gone down in the polls recently, making the election closer than ever, with 50 percent likely voters for Harris and 48 for Trump. As this question is phrased by likely, people are more likely to be honest but there is definitely a possibility for change in opinion within the next 3 weeks. It is unclear what caused Harris to drop in the polls but media speculation suggests that her recent interviews weren’t as favorable to her image.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/threats-fema-workers-north-carolina-sheriff/story?id=114776904
7 comments:
The fact that something as straightforward as helping citizens effected by a terrible natural disaster is being turned into a bitter political battle says that something is seriously wrong with our country at the moment. There are peoples whose homes are destroyed, whose entire lives have been uprooted and they are in desperate need of relief, yet that relief cannot get to them because extremists are threatening the lives of those who just want to help. No one should be threatening first responders like FEMA workers in a time of crisis, particularly when they are actually they're helping. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the public was outraged at the lack of support from FEMA for the hurricane victims and the situation ended up being a lot worse. Right now, there were actually workers down south, the government did have a timely response, unlike in 2005, yet this time, it isn't even safe for them to do their jobs. Additionally, Republicans are turning this chaos into political rhetoric and sound bites, trying to make the Democrats look bad. It makes me wonder if this is the "October surprise" of the 2024 election, the thing that will change voters minds going into election day. It's entirely possible that the hurricane response from both sides is going to have a very big impact on the election, but it may not become clear until it is too late to do anything about it.
It is unbelievable that some people believe in conspiracies such as these. It is legit fantasy. Moreover, the fact that such people--who are clearly experiencing a break from reality--can have ready access to guns, to potentially harm those with good intentions, is striking. This whole situation says a lot about our failure with gun control, the gross nature of our politics, and Trump's narcissism. It is clear he is shameless when it comes to weaponizing any situation no matter how unseemly and wrong it is.
I think these conspiracy theories show two things; one, republicans have lost the edge in the election following the stepping down of Biden, and two how desperate Republicans are to regain their lead. Threatening a natural disaster aid organization is an utterly ridiculous thing to do, why would one feel compelled to increase the stress on a group that is already dealing with a time of crisis. Apparently, the Republican party is petty enough to pull off a stint such as this, and they won't stop with the conspiracy theories anytime soon, even if Trump isn't elected into office. The party seems to have no regard for the consequences of their spreading of misinformation, and don't seem to care who or how it affects the ones wrongly involved. This election has turned into a war, spun completely out of proportion by the Republican party.
The recent events in where FEMA had to withdraw due to militia threats, underscore how partisan rhetoric has reached dangerous new levels, fueled by conspiracy theories and mistrust. Republicans seem increasingly skeptical that Democrats have their states’ best interests at heart, especially when figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump push false narratives about FEMA funds being redirected or weather manipulation. Trump’s attacks on FEMA and the Biden-Harris administration, is not just limited to his base—it’s spreading throughout the party, intensifying divisions.
The constant and repeated conspiracy theories of the Republican party are getting out of hand. These theories are harming and threatening government agencies now, making it harder for the federal government to do their jobs. Additionally, this further compounds the lies of Donald Trump, directing blame for his poor economics and actions towards democrats.
What's worse, is that in project 2025, there have been genuine attacks on FEMA, and defunding it-- eve though it is a necessity for the country, and a completely valid form of federal aid/relief. The conspiracies over where the money is going, and lies about it being spent on 'migrants' instead of citizens, are blatantly false and a country in which there is no fund for citizens effected by national disasters seems like a nightmare---- something is to be said about the attacks on this particular component of the country, and what that means for those attacking it and those who will be affected if the people attempting to defund/impact FEMA succeed.
This whole situation shows how deep the political divide has gotten, with conspiracy theories about FEMA and disaster relief taking hold, especially among Republicans. Claims like those from Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump—that the government controls the weather or that FEMA funds are being misused—are simply false and distract from the real issues. These stories only make people distrust the government when clear action is needed to help hurricane victims. For Democrats, the challenge is to fight back against this misinformation while focusing on real solutions for disaster relief and climate change. With the election getting closer, Harris' dip in the polls shows just how crucial it is to push back on these lies and restore public trust in the government.
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