Former President Barack Obama criticized former President Donald Trump for spreading disinformation about hurricane relief, asking Republicans during a powerful speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, "when did it become OK" for Trump to spread these lies.
Addressing the audience, Obama acknowledged that the past few years, beginning with the pandemic, have been difficult for Americans, with rising costs and other challenges affecting working families.
However, he portrayed Trump as disconnected from the realities of most Americans and unfit to lead the country toward meaningful change, referring to him as a “bumbling” billionaire “who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down the golden escalator” in 2015 to kick off his first campaign.
And that "bumbling billionaire," Obama noted, has not, unlike Vice President Kamala Harris, spent time "fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a chance," as evidenced by the disinformation Trump has spread in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
The death toll from Helene rose to 231 as of Monday as the effort to recover bodies continued over a week after the devastating storm battered the Southeast, claiming lives across six states.
Helene is now the deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. Roughly half of the victims were in North Carolina, with many others in Georgia and South Carolina. And Trump's series of lies about the event is especially dangerous as the same region contends with Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Wednesday as a Category 3 after weakening from a Category 5, with winds well over 180 miles per hour.
Despite the threat these storms pose to people who live in their path, Trump has blatantly lied about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, echoing a circulating rumor that survivors are receiving only $750 from FEMA. This amount actually refers to immediate assistance FEMA can provide to affected individuals in disaster zones.
And Obama did not hold back when slamming Trump for his lies, even emotionally pleading with Republicans, asking "when did that become OK?":
"He knew it wasn't true. Even local Republicans said it was not true and now the people of Florida are dealing with another devastating storm and I want you to watch what happens over the next few days, just like last time. You're going to have leaders trying to help and then you have a guy who'll just lie about it to score political points and this has consequences."
"People are afraid and they've lost everything and now they're trying to figure out, 'How do I apply for help?' and some may be discouraged getting the help they need. The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments! My question is, when did that become OK?"
"I want to ask Republicans out there ... When did that become OK? Why would we go along with that? If your co-workers acted like that, they wouldn't be your co-workers very long. If you're in business and someone you're doing business with just outright lies and manipulates, you stop doing business with them."
"Even if you had a family member who acted like that, you might still love them but you tell, 'You've got a problem,' and you wouldn't put them in charge of anything. And yet when Donald Trump lies or cheats or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, when he calls POWs 'losers' or fellow citizens 'vermin,' people make excuses for it."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Many echoed his criticisms of Republicans while decrying Trump's dangerous lies.
Earlier this week, Harris condemned Trump for spreading disinformation about Helene, saying that he, in trademark fashion, is making the disaster all "about him":
"The other point I'd make is there's a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former president about what is available, particularly to the survivors of Helene. It’s extraordinarily irresponsible.
It’s about him. It’s not about you.”
Harris noted that "FEMA has so many resources that are available to folks who desperately need them now, and resources that are about helping people get back on their feet and rebuild and have places to go." She stressed that people "are entitled to these resources, and it is critically important that people apply for the help that is there to support."
President Joe Biden has also rebuked Trump for his remarks, denouncing in a White House address Trump's "reckless, irresponsible and relentless disinformation and outright lies that continue to flow."
Biden went on to criticize Republicans who've echoed Trump's "bizarre" lies, saying this behavior is "so damn un-American with the way they're talking about this stuff."
Trump's lies and disinformation have been so damaging, in fact, that Keith Turi, FEMA's acting associate administrator for response and recovery, said they are "reducing the likelihood that survivors will come to FEMA in a trusting way to register for assistance.”
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