
"Trump and a number of his Republican allies have been pushing unsubstantiated claims this week concerning the response of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Helene, which left over 200 people dead and dealt massive damage to infrastructure when it ripped through the Southeast last week.
The ex-president falsely claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was diverting disaster relief money to illegal migrants and made an evidence-free assertion that the Biden administration was denying relief to "Republican areas."
Trump also falsely claimed that Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, with whom he held a joint news conference concerning disaster relief efforts on Friday, was unable to speak with Biden about federal disaster assistance over the phone.
Geoff Duncan, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia who has endorsed Harris in this year's election, said during a CNN broadcast on Friday night that Trump's false hurricane claims acted as solemn evidence pertaining to the state of his party.
"It's a sobering reminder of where the Republican Party is at right now, and how deep in the gutter we truly are," Duncan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "To think that we're going to use this platform to politicize ... one of the worst storms to hit this region ever."
"Donald Trump is down in Georgia today only because he cares about trying to win Georgia," he added. "Because he's realized that if he loses Georgia, he's probably going to end up going to jail."
The cable news network's chief media analyst Brian Stelter then blasted Trump, accusing him of telling Americans "not to believe your eyes or your ears" and of spreading "lies" for "brazen political purposes."
"It's about saying, 'Biden and Harris are incompetent, don't trust them, they hate America,'" said Stelter. "That's the message from Republicans, it's so extreme though ... The problem with the hurricane is that the people who are being lied to now about Helene, they're actually going to suffer as a result."
The ex-president falsely claimed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was diverting disaster relief money to illegal migrants and made an evidence-free assertion that the Biden administration was denying relief to "Republican areas."
Trump also falsely claimed that Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, with whom he held a joint news conference concerning disaster relief efforts on Friday, was unable to speak with Biden about federal disaster assistance over the phone.
Geoff Duncan, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia who has endorsed Harris in this year's election, said during a CNN broadcast on Friday night that Trump's false hurricane claims acted as solemn evidence pertaining to the state of his party.
"It's a sobering reminder of where the Republican Party is at right now, and how deep in the gutter we truly are," Duncan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "To think that we're going to use this platform to politicize ... one of the worst storms to hit this region ever."
"Donald Trump is down in Georgia today only because he cares about trying to win Georgia," he added. "Because he's realized that if he loses Georgia, he's probably going to end up going to jail."
The cable news network's chief media analyst Brian Stelter then blasted Trump, accusing him of telling Americans "not to believe your eyes or your ears" and of spreading "lies" for "brazen political purposes."
"It's about saying, 'Biden and Harris are incompetent, don't trust them, they hate America,'" said Stelter. "That's the message from Republicans, it's so extreme though ... The problem with the hurricane is that the people who are being lied to now about Helene, they're actually going to suffer as a result."