President Joe Biden said on Friday that he thinks his administration is “breaking through with the truth” about the false information spreading about how the federal government dealt with Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Biden also kept criticizing former President Donald Trump, saying that he was “not solely to blame” for the rise in false claims over the past few weeks but “has the biggest mouth.”
Biden made the comments while at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and other officials to talk about the two storms that hit Florida, North Carolina, and other parts of the Southeast and caused a lot of damage.
The White House said that the president will go to Florida on Sunday to see places that were damaged by Hurricane Milton.
Though Biden said he hasn’t talked to House Speaker Mike Johnson directly about the problem yet, he has asked lawmakers to come back to Washington to pass some more disaster aid money.
“I’ve spoken to Republicans who want to speak with Speaker Johnson, and I think Speaker Johnson is going to get the message that he’s got to step up, particularly for small businesses,” he said.
Mayorkas said that FEMA will be able to help right away with the two storms’ needs. To be fair, Biden told lawmakers last week in a letter that the Small Business Administration’s emergency loan program is running out of money.
Biden has already seen the damage that Hurricane Helene did in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The storm killed more than 230 people and forced hundreds more to leave their homes.
As a Category 3 storm, Hurricane Milton hit land in Florida on Wednesday evening. The storm killed at least 16 people, and millions of people still don’t have power.
Biden has talked to a lot of state and local leaders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he described as “very cooperative.” People asked Biden if he could meet with DeSantis on Sunday. He said yes, as long as the governor was free.
Some false claims have been strongly pushed back against by the White House about the federal reaction to the storm and how much help victims can get.
Biden and Mayorkas both said that the false information is making it harder for FEMA to help people who have been affected by the damage and is even leading to threats against first responders on the ground.
When asked if the false information about the storm was now the standard in the US, Biden said, “For some extreme people, maybe, but I don’t think it’s what the country is about.”
“This is what we need to break through. The speaker said, “We’re breaking through with the truth.” He also said that he was “proud” of Republican mayors and other state officials who were speaking out against the lies and saying that Americans are getting together to help each other.
“But what bothers me the most is that is there’s a lot of people who get caught in these crises who are basically alone,” he said. There are widowers, people in hospitals, and people who are alone who don’t know what’s going on and lose touch.
They get scared to death, scared to death. Also, I believe that those who have been telling these lies to hurt the opposition will be held accountable.
