Newsmax was a major home for right-lies and misinformation about government relief efforts after Hurricane Helene. Larry Bell huffed in an Oct. 6 Newsmax column:
Amid catastrophic North Carolina flooding when Vice President Kamala Harris has offered devastated Hurricane Helene victims $750 emergency payments and a $100 million package to support the state, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has warned that his $640.9 million FEMA storm relief budget is now just about tapped out for the rest of this season.
[…]This being the case, legitimate questions arise how his organization has managed to provide the reported $1.4 billion in FEMA funds spent addressing the migrant crisis over the last two years.
Former President Trump responded at a Pennsylvania campaign rally last Saturday, “Think of it … We give foreign countries hundreds of billions of dollars and we’re handing North Carolina $750.”
Michael Dorstewitz made a similar claim in his Oct. 7 column:
Harris eventually made it to storm-stricken Georgia, where she announced at a press briefing that FEMA funds would be available to families who had lost everything.
“The federal relief and assistance that we have been providing has included FEMA providing $750 for folks who need immediate needs being met,” she said.
Wow! All they have to do is apply and who knows? They could be $750 richer!
Michael Letts — who still has criminal charges pending against him regarding incest and sexual conduct with a minor — ranted in his Oct. 10 column:
Why is it that people who aren’t even Americans are entitled to thousands of dollars’ worth of “free” benefits — including hotel rooms and debit cards paid for by Americans — but Americans devastated by the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene are only worth a $750 loan?
Does anything else capture the essence of the value the Biden-Harris regime places on Americans?
More finely, the contempt the Biden-Harris regime has for Americans?
[…]But perhaps the most insulting thing the regime has done thus far is to offer a $750 loan they must repay after one year. If they do not repay the loan — which they must sign a legal contract to receive — the government can seize whatever property they have left.
But these columnists are lying by portraying that money as the only aid hurricane survivors will get. As a more responsible media outlet reported:
One major part of FEMA’s assistance that has been mischaracterized by former President Donald Trump and others is a $750 payment that goes to disaster survivors in the immediate aftermath of a hurricane, tornado, or other major storm – which has been falsely painted as a loan or the only assistance FEMA is providing. In fact, that is the first payment FEMA will make to disaster survivors – who are eligible for other forms of assistance to help with temporary shelter and funding to start rebuilding once the storm passes.
Meanwhile, Newsmax was enabling Donald Trump and his toadies to spread another falsehood about relief money:
- Trump in Michigan: Disaster Relief Money Spent on Illegals
- Trump Camp: FEMA’s Broke Due to Harris Migrant Freebies
- Trump to Newsmax: Biden Doles Out FEMA Billions to Migrants
- Rep. Harris to Newsmax: Spend FEMA Funds on Emergencies, Not Migrants
- Rep. Fallon to Newsmax: Biden, Harris Behind FEMA Shortfall ‘Cataclysm’
- JD Vance to Newsmax: ‘Frustrated’ With FEMA Response in N.C.
- Rep. Luna Seeks Answers From FEMA Over Migrant Spending
- JD Vance Rips Biden-Harris ‘Incompetence’ in Hurricane Helene Response
As we’ve pointed out, not only is there no evidence that FEMA disaster money was used to help migrants, Trump himself raided the disaster fund in 2019 to pay for detention space for migrants.
Meanwhile, Nicole Weatherholtz platformed another dubious claim in an Oct. 4 article:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk took to X on Friday afternoon to claim the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is “actively blocking” volunteers who try to help the struggling citizens of western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
“Just received this note from a SpaceX engineer helping on the ground in North Carolina,” Musk wrote. “@FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help!”
“Hey Elon, update here on site of Asheville, NC,” Musk said his employee wrote. “We have powered up two large operating bases for choppers to deliver goods into hands. We’ve deployed 300+ starlinks and outpour is it has saved many lives.
“The big issue is FEMA is actively blocking shipments and seizing goods and services locally and locking them away to state they are their own,” the post continued. “It’s very real and scary how much they have taken control to stop people helping. We are blocked now on the shipments of new starlinks coming in until we get an escort from the fire dept. but that may not be enough.”
Neither Musk nor Weatherholtz offered any evidence that this was actually happening, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg denied any such blocking has happened and accused Musk of spreading misinformation.
Ultimately, though, Newsmax at least somewhat conceded how harmful spreading such lies can be, publishing articles featuring officials in Tennessee and North Carolina discrediting these bogus rumors. More corectives appeared later in the month: An Oct. 17 article reported that “The federal government has approved nearly $2 billion in assistance across six states to help people hit hard by hurricanes Helene and Milton,” and an Oct. 24 article by Kate McManus admitted that a report found “Russia spread false claims about the United States government’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton.”