Republican Senator Gives Shocking Defense of GOP’s Hurricane Lies

Amid active devastation in the American South wrought by unprecedented hurricanes, Republicans are busy with one thing: attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for dismantling their weather-related conspiracies.

Speaking with Fox News on Wednesday, Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt seemingly torched Harris for actually responding to the disaster, going so far as to claim it was “really awkward” that the vice president would “insert herself” into phone calls to affected states about federal relief funds.

“Your reaction to what seems to be this preemptive attempt by Biden and Harris and the media to silence critics of any aspect of the government’s response by calling it all disinformation?” asked host Laura Ingraham.

“Yeah, this is a kind of a standard playbook now, Laura, for anything they don’t like to hear,” Schmitt said. “They label it misinformation or disinformation. They’ve tried to censor this stuff before during Covid because … it wasn’t the regime’s narrative, and here we go again.”

“There are real stories, there are people hurting who are not getting help,” the MAGA Republican continued. “In fact, you know, relief efforts by private citizens were being blocked.... The federal government’s response here, led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, have completely failed the people of North Carolina.”

Republicans have launched a host of lies and disinformation throughout the 2024 hurricane season. So far, conservative leaders in heavily affected regions, including Florida and Georgia, have accused the Biden administration of diverting funds from FEMA to assist undocumented immigrants entering the country (a charge that FEMA has fervently rejected), claimed that working with the White House to expedite disaster relief “seemed political,” and conspiratorially suggested that the hurricanes are a government manipulation.

Some of those lies have had real-world consequences, convincing Americans in heavily affected regions that they shouldn’t apply for FEMA’s disaster relief based on the lie that the agency is out of money.

Speaking with CNN on Tuesday, former Republican communications strategist Douglas Heye lamented how Donald Trump’s own supporters were bearing the brunt of the misinformation.

“The area of North Carolina that was hit is overwhelmingly Republican,” Heye, a North Carolinian, told the network. “By spreading this misinformation, you’re hurting your own voters first. And we know Donald Trump takes his people sort of as a special case, he’s damaging them for his own political good. That’s malicious.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson sent his thoughts and prayers to hurricane victims, as Democratic lawmakers begged him to call Congress back into session to pass emergency funding to address Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

More than 60 House Democrats signed a letter Wednesday urging Johnson to assemble lawmakers to pass additional funding on top of last month’s stopgap bill, which provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $20 billion.

“The funds previously allocated were a necessary first step, allowing for an initial response to the immediate aftermath of these disasters,” read the letter. “However, as recovery efforts continue, it is abundantly clear that these funds will not suffice.”

While FEMA has said that it has enough money “for immediate response and recovery needs,” it’s not clear how long this funding will last, given the frequency and intensity of this season’s storms.

FEMA “must be equipped not only to respond to current disasters but also to adequately prepare for future events,” the letter said. “This requires substantial funding that ensures FEMA can maintain a state of readiness and provide immediate assistance when disasters strike.”

The letter was not signed by a single Republican.

Johnson doesn’t seem interested in calling Congress back into session any time soon. During a visit to North Carolina Wednesday, Johnson claimed that there was little Congress could do until the storms had passed.

“What happens next after a storm like this is that the states then do their individual assessments and calculations of the damages and then they submit that need to the federal government. Then Congress acts,” Johnson said. “So as soon as those calculations are prepared, Congress will act in a bipartisan fashion to supply what is needed to help these communities recover, the appropriate amount that the federal government should do.”

“But it will take some time, sadly and unfortunately, for those calculations to be made. In the meantime, again, literally billions of dollars are sitting in accounts at FEMA with the administration to address the immediate needs,” Johnson explained.

“When I last checked, as of Monday, only one percent of those funds had actually been distributed. There’s concern that the federal response was a little too slow, and that needs to be addressed.”

Later that evening, Johnson posted on X. “Our prayers are with the people of Florida tonight as they endure Hurricane Milton,” he wrote.

Kari Lake tried to run from her MAGA record during a Wednesday night Arizona Senate debate against Democrat Ruben Gallego. But she flailed spectacularly when asked one crucial question.

While discussing Lake’s climate change denial on Wednesday night, Gallego also called her out over her election denialism.

“She’s still in denial about climate change. We should not be surprised by this. She’s still in denial about the 2022 election. And now, I give you one minute. You have one minute. Will you finally tell the people of Arizona, did you win or lose that election?”

“Can we, can I talk about water really quickly?” replied Lake, dodging the question. “Because I thought we were gonna do water.”

Like Trump, Lake continues to claim she won the 2022 gubernatorial election—and two years later, is still attempting to overturn the election results.

Wednesday’s Senate debate was a disaster for Lake in other ways as well. She also tried to avoid harsh questioning about her stance on abortion. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Lake wanted the state to implement an 1864 abortion ban and then complained when the ban wasn’t able to be enforced to her liking. During her Senate run, she has tried to flip-flop and hide from this fact, but Gallego reminded Arizonans of the truth.

“She was disappointed to find out the 1864 law, again the one that had no exceptions for rape or incest, was not going to get enforced, she said I hope the sheriffs will do their jobs,” said Gallego during the debate.

“That’s not true,” responded Lake under her breath.

“We have it on tape,” Gallego shot back. 

While backtracking on the issues, Lake bragged about her relationship with the former president several times on the debate stage to try and save her performance. “President Trump, my good friend, has called me ‘Border Kari,’” said Lake. “I love the nickname, and I’m going to go there to Washington, D.C., and help him build that border wall and secure the border.”

“You’ve been to Mar-a-Lago more than you have to the border,” said Gallego.

Lake and Gallego are competing for the seat currently occupied by Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who opted not to run for reelection. The latest polls show Gallego up seven points against Lake. The result of the election could determine if the Democrats can hold on to their majority in the Senate.

Donald Trump still hasn’t come to terms with his crowd size.

On Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee’s appearance in Reading, Pennsylvania, featured a slew of plainly false, misleading claims, including that there were no terrorist attacks during his administration, and that school-aged children were receiving gender-affirming surgery without their parents’ consent.

But one mistruth that Trump couldn’t seem to let go of was the reality of how many people are actually turning out to his repetitive events.

“You know, we get up and we talk, we talk, and I noticed something, somebody was telling me the other day, we do a lot of these beautiful rallies and it’s so great. We never have an empty seat. Never have—Look at them, 100,000 people or more. Never have an empty,” Trump said.

But beyond the scope of the camera, there were empty seats—and a lot of them.

The arena reportedly had a capacity of 7,200 seats, according to The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, but even as Trump began to speak, a couple hundred of them remained empty behind the press risers.

And even in the middle of Trump’s speech, people began to leave, leaving chair gaps directly behind him while on camera.

Trump’s low turnout is significant for a candidate who has frequently attacked his political opponents for their inability to draw as many people as he’s historically attracted to his boisterous, sprawling campaign stops.

In 2016 and 2020, Trump relied on the visual logic of his loaded rallies—and, by extension, the relatively lackluster crowds attending his opponents’—as evidence of his titanic popularity among everyday Americans. But whether Trump is on a high or a low note with his supporters, he’s equally likely to stretch the numbers, even going so far in August as to claim that his January 6 crowd size was bigger than Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington (photographic evidence proves it wasn’t even close.)

It turns out, Elon Musk’s gracious offer of “free” Starlink high-speed internet services for those affected by Hurricane Helene isn’t free at all, and may be a ploy to trap new customers.

Last week, Starlink posted a link on X to a website explaining its offer to those seeking Hurricane Helene relief. “For those impacted by Hurricane Helene, or looking to support response and recovery efforts in affected areas, Starlink is now free for 30 days,” the post read.

Musk reshared the post, adding, “Starlink terminals will now work automatically without need for payment in the areas affected by Hurricane Helene.”

A closer look at the website, though, shows that the offer comes with a few caveats.

“Please note: A Starlink kit is required to access this free service. If you do not already have a Starlink kit, you will need to purchase one,” the site explains.

So how much exactly does a Starlink kit cost? New customers will still have to pay close to $400 for a Starlink kit, including shipping and tax, according to Gizmodo. Starlink has also warned of significant delays that may prevent orders from arriving for weeks, and encouraged those seeking its services to buy a kit from retailers such as Best Buy or Home Depot. There, the kit will cost more like $350 not including tax.

But that’s not all users will have to pay. “After 30 days, we will move you to a paid Residential subscription,” the SpaceX site reads. A paid residential subscription costs $120 per month, a significant upcharge from a typical internet service, which could cost around $40 per month.

So Musk’s offer isn’t much different from a typical free trial for his expensive internet service.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump patted himself on the back for getting Musk to provide Starlink services to the areas affected by Hurricane Helene, noting that he wasn’t actually sure “what the hell it is.”

Last week, SpaceX sent more than 10,000 Starlink terminals to North Carolina and other areas affected by Helene, according to The Hill. One Starlink terminal was planned to be deployed in each county.

In response to Hurricane Milton, Musk announced Wednesday that SpaceX and T-Mobile had accelerated the rollout of their direct-to-cell services, which will be “provided free of charge” to those “affected by hurricanes.”

Like Trump, Musk has been smearing federal hurricane relief efforts, claiming on X last week that FEMA employees were “actively blocking” Starlink terminals from being deployed.