For millions of Americans, Hurricane Helen was a devastating and life-altering event. that's from the beginning hit florida As of September 26, at least 220 people were killed and “hundreds more are missing.” It will take months, perhaps years, for parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia to recover.
Many places still remain fragmented. Hundreds of thousands of people still have not had power restored. new york times says helen It was the “worst storm to hit the continental United States in nearly 20 years.”
Traditionally, in the aftermath of disasters like this one, Americans and their leaders put aside partisan differences And please come with me. political scientist I dubbed this “The rallying effect around the flag.” But like many American traditions, this one seems to be a thing of the past.
It's been a while since Helen became a hit. former president trump and his ally They tried to exploit this catastrophe for their own political gain. Their response embodies what some call a “me first” approach to disasters.
The Biden administration took action before the hurricane made landfall. that approved Requests for emergency assistance from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama to the federal government.
By last weekend, The Federal Emergency Management Agency reported It said “more than 4,800 personnel from across the federal workforce” were involved in managing the disaster. October 2nd, Mr. Biden announced It said it was deploying 1,000 active-duty military personnel “to support response and recovery efforts.”
Testimony about the high quality of the president and his team's response to Helen came from Republican political leaders across the Southeast, none of whom were Biden fans. Like Biden, they put aside partisanship and praised the Democratic administration's accomplishments.
For example, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) pointed out that Biden contacted him and said, …He offered to call me directly if I needed anything else. That's a blessing. But, you know, we've had FEMA built in since a day or two before the storm hit. ”
Republican South Carolina Governor Henry McMasterexpressed similar sentiments last week. He said the federal government's response to Herren was “excellent,” explaining that the president and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told him they were going to provide “whatever the state needs.” “We have support and we are asking for everything we need,” McMaster said.
Finally, on Friday, the Washington Post quoted Sen. Thom Tillis (R.N.C.) as saying. called “This is a solid defense of the federal government's recovery efforts to date.”
But you would never know this from President Trump's statements. Sensing a potential political advantage in battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina, the former president is trying to stoke the usual fear and resentment among people whose lives have been upended.
Thursday, ignoring Kemp, McMaster, Tillis and other party members. Trump claimed “Kamala and Sleepy Joe receive poor reviews around the world, especially in North Carolina, for the way they responded to the hurricane. The worst and most incompetently managed at the federal level we've ever seen.” Although it is declining as a “storm”, their border control is even worse! ”
As this statement shows, President Trump has treated Hurricane Helen as an opportunity to gain political advantage on immigration.
Speaking at a rally in Michigan, President Trump said“If you want to know how sick and warped Kamala Harris' priorities are, consider FEMA. … Kamala has spent all of FEMA's money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal immigrants. , many of whom don't belong here at all. Billions of dollars in gift cards for illegal aliens and putting them in luxury hotels.”
this claim clearly false. The New York Times explains: Funding for immigrant shelters did not reach “billions of dollars,” nor did it deplete the Federal Emergency Management Agency's resources. And no disaster funds are used for these shelters. ”
And when he's not fanning the flames of anger against immigrants, Trump has used Hurricane Helen to deepen the divide between Republicans and Democrats. President Trump before heading to North Carolina to see the aftermath of Helen. I made the following post on Truth Social: “I don't like reports that the federal government and Democratic governors aren't going out of their way to help people in Republican areas.”
“There is no evidence that the Biden administration was intentionally ignoring the needs of Republican areas,” the Times said. In fact…FEMA has designated counties in several states as eligible to apply for federal aid, including dozens of counties won by Trump in the 2020 presidential election. ”
Upon arriving in Georgia on September 30, President Trump changed his tune, pointing to America's tradition of putting politics aside when disaster strikes. like he said“At times like this, when a crisis occurs and our fellow citizens cry out for help. … We are not talking about politics.”
But it didn't take long for the former president to try to score political points.
He used a press conference held at a furniture store damaged by the storm to claim, contrary to Kemp's statements, that the governor was “calling the president and we couldn't get through to him.” did. And former President Trump once again contradicted Kemp. claimed He said the federal government's response to the state was “terrible.”
President Trump also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not visiting Georgia. “Of course, Vice President, she's campaigning somewhere… looking for money.”
Harris cut short her campaign trip to confer with FEMA officials in Washington. traveled to georgia And unlike Trump, he did not use her visit to criticize his opponents. Instead, she announced that President Biden has “approved Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's request for '100 percent federal reimbursement of local costs' to get relief to people as quickly as possible.”
Getting relief to people “as soon as possible” and making false claims to gain political advantage demonstrate a clear difference in how the two presidential candidates think about responding to disasters. President Trump's “me-first” approach was underscored last week when Mark Harvey, Trump's former National Security Council staffer, said: claimed so in 2018After deadly wildfires broke out in California, President Trump initially refused to approve disaster relief, citing the state's Democratic leanings.
According to Politico“Trump changed his mind after Mr. Harvey pulled polls showing there were more Trump supporters in California's hard-hit Orange County than in all of Iowa.”
Americans who go to the polls in November will have a chance to choose whether they want a president who puts politics aside when disaster strikes, or a president who uses disaster to help his supporters and punish those who don't. get.
austin surrattWilliam Nelson Cromwell is a professor of law and political science at Amherst College. His views do not necessarily reflect those of Amherst College.
