CNN Host Dana Bash wouldn’t let Lara Trump dodge her questions about her father-in-law’s baseless claims about FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene in an interview on Sunday.
At a campaign rally in Michigan lat week, former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris had redirected FEMA money for hurricane relief to house “illegal migrants.”
“They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season,” Trump said. The former President also claimed impacted families were only being offered $750 in federal assistance.
“Why is he spreading misinformation in a crisis like that and does that concern you about your fellow North Carolinians and how and whether they can get help?” Bash asked Lara Trump
The Republican National Committee co-chair tried to flip the criticism to Harris, reiterating Trump’s lies that impacted families are receiving little help from FEMA while the country spends millions on the “migrant crisis that Kamala Harris was responsible for stopping.”
“Let me just stop you right there,” Bash interrupted. She clarified that the $750 given to families by FEMA is just a “first-step” to help families cover essential costs and emergency supplies, but there is other funding available.
The fund is called “Serious Needs Assistance” and is “an upfront, flexible payment to help cover essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies,” the FEMA website reads. Individuals and families can still receive funding “for temporary housing, personal property and home repair costs.”
Lara Trump ignored Bash’s correction.
“They are out of money in terms of hurricane relief,” Lara Trump said. “We have another hurricane heading towards Florida right now. But they have said that there is no money right now. Why don‘t they have anything in order?” (House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he would not appropriate more money for FEMA until after the election).
Bash pressed on.
“It is bad there," she said. "But my question is about the misinformation, particularly the notion that they are moving money to, you say, undocumented migrants, which FEMA says flatly is not true.”
“You have migrants being housed in luxury hotels in New York City,” Lara Trump interrupted, claiming that money being used to house migrants could be redirected to impacted North Carolinians.
“That’s a separate tranche of money,” Bash responded, visibly annoyed.
In 2024, Congress appointed $650 million to house migrants and that money was transferred from the US Border Services and Protection to FEMA to administer the program, called the Shelter and Services Program. That money is entirely separate from FEMA’s disaster relief funds.
“These claims are completely false,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Washington Post. “As Secretary Mayorkas said, FEMA has the necessary resources to meet the immediate needs associated with Hurricane Helene and other disasters. The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is a completely separate, appropriated grant program that was authorized and funded by Congress and is not associated in any way with FEMA’s disaster-related authorities or funding streams.”
Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia the Carolinas and Tennessee at the end of September and has quickly become one of the country's most costly and devastating hurricanes, leaving over 220 people dead.
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