Donald Trump and his allies have been misinforming the general public concerning the federal response to Hurricane Helene, be it with lies or conspiracy theories.
Trump’s first administration was a catastrophe for our surroundings—however he and his pals are removed from executed. Undertaking 2025, the Heritage Basis’s agenda for a possible second Trump administration, contains dismantling the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Company—the U.S. company that forecasts climate—and enormously limiting the Federal Emergency Administration Company’s potential to reply.
Listed here are some examples of how poorly the Trump administration managed our nation’s hardest instances.
They didn’t workers the federal businesses tasked with catastrophe response.
Trump’s administration didn’t sufficiently workers FEMA or NOAA with directors for months after he got here into workplace. Worse, he imposed a government-wide hiring freeze that affected tons of of unfilled positions on the Nationwide Climate Service, and that was known as “a contributing factor” in a renewed decline in NOAA workers.
Trump initially refused to ship help to California throughout wildfires as a result of it was a blue state.
When wildfires ravaged California in 2018, Trump attacked the state for its “mismanagement” of the fires. In the meantime, a former senior director on Trump’s Nationwide Safety Council workers informed E&E Information that when Trump resisted sending wildfire help to the Golden State, staffers “went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you.”
Trump delayed and obstructed getting federal help to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
The Trump administration’s preliminary neglect in serving to Puerto Rico was outshined solely by his administration’s continued delays in congressionally allotted help for years after. At each step, Trump seemed to block additional help to the U.S. territory. Trump additionally reportedly joked about buying and selling Puerto Rico for Greenland as he confronted criticism for his response to Hurricane Maria.
Hurricane Dorian and the notorious black marker.
In 2019, in the course of the leadup to Hurricane Dorian, Trump made an incorrect evaluation that the state of Alabama was within the projected path of the approaching storm. His evaluation was then corrected by the Nationwide Climate Service workplace in Birmingham, main Trump to double down on being incorrect. Finally, he held a press convention the place he confirmed a conspicuously doctored map of Dorian’s path to assist his lie. The sloppy use of black marker on the map turned emblematic of how unserious Trump’s strategy to catastrophe was.
Trump makes use of flooding in Michigan to try to cease absentee voting.
When flooding hit Michigan in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump tweeted out a menace to withhold federal help if absentee ballots had been despatched out to voters forward of the 2020 main and normal elections. After all, the one factor being despatched out on the time had been functions for absentee ballots.
COVID-19.
Analysis finds that Trump’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic led to tons of of hundreds of extra deaths. His incompetence started early on as he downplayed the severity and unfold of the worldwide pandemic. He then provided up a barrage of pretend cures and different misinformation, from shilling for the ineffective hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to disinfecting the blood with one thing like Clorox.
Trump’s historical past of (mis)managing disasters is fairly craven, and his lies concerning the present administration’s administration of this latest pure catastrophe are a real new low for that lowlife.
Then again, right here is an instance of management.
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