The View hosts are skewering Donald Trump over his recent false claims that FEMA disaster funds are being sent to immigrants instead of those affected by Hurricane Helene.
“Okay, here are the facts: not a dime of disaster relief has gone to resettling migrants or anybody else. It’s a bald-faced lie,” Whoopi Goldberg explained at the beginning of the segment. “FEMA has also set up a website so people can go and see, and it will debunk this insanity. Why people would want to put that out there to people who are suffering — people who have lost their homes, towns are gone — why would you get out there and tell them there’s no help for them?”
On its website, FEMA notes that “no money is being diverted from disaster response needs,” adding, “FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”
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Sunny Hostin said that Trump’s organization is one that “thrives on despair and fear” when it comes to swaying potential voters. “While he is falsely accusing the Biden administration of redirecting these funds, that’s exactly what he did,” she explained. “In 2019, the Trump administration — in the middle of hurricane season — told Congress that it was taking $271 million dollars from FEMA and from DHS programs, including $155 million from the disaster fund, to pay for immigration detention and temporary hearing locations for asylum seekers.”
She also debunked Trump’s false claim that “the federal government is only given $750 dollars” to people affected by Helene. “That is not true. That is the immediate, upfront payment the people are getting,” she said. “What the Biden administration is offering, for example, the maximum for home repair assistance is $42,500. We’re talking about real change and real effort and he should be ashamed of himself.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin added that there’s been a “downtick in volunteers” following Trump’s comments because they believe that “there’s not enough funding for them to be able to help the efforts” on the ground.
“Donald Trump’s doing this because of politics. North Carolina is a battleground state, so right now he wants to scare North Carolina voters into supporting him thinking the Biden/Harris administration isn’t helping them,” she said. “But guess what? This crisis is gonna last long beyond Election Day. And God forbid Donald Trump wins and North Carolina votes against him — I worry that he wouldn’t actually keep fighting to get the funds for them. This is a years-long rebuilding and we need leaders who are going to work across the aisle.”
Ana Navarro took issue with Republicans using immigrants as a scapegoat. “I just don’t know what else they can possibly blame on immigrants. I mean, are they going to blame immigrants for Donald Trump having five pieces of hair left on his head?” She asked as the crowd laughed. “It’s just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.”
The Florida resident said that the last thing people want to see after surviving a natural disaster is government clashes. “The thing that I really find horrifying about this is that there’s less people applying for aid because of it, that FEMA’s having to use its precious time and resources to fight this, but more than that, think about this: the men and women of FEMA have left their own families…. To go to these areas that are in distress, often without power, the roads full of mud, just perilous conditions, and they are being attacked and maligned this way?”
She continued, “Shame on Donald Trump and how rich is this, coming from the man who showed up at Puerto Rico with rolls of … well, not toilet paper, it was paper towels. It’s just I always think of toilet paper when I think of him.” (Navarro is referring to when then-president Trump threw paper towels at a crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico amid the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017.)
Hostin interjected, “We remember that, Donald Trump.”
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.
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