Hurricane disinformation rampant in US election campaign

Joe Biden had had enough. This was very clear when the US president gave a short statement to journalists on Thursday afternoon.
“Anyone who seeks to take advantage of our fellow Americans’ desperation, whether you’re a company engaging in price gouging or a citizen trying to scam your neighbors: we’ll go after you and we’ll hold you accountable,” he told reporters in Washington.
Biden was referring to incidents that have taken place in recent days and weeks in the states affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton. For example: People trying to fly out of Florida before Hurricane Milton made landfall in the early hours of Thursday morning reported on social media that they were being quoted exorbitant ticket prices. There were also reports of hugely inflated prices at hotels and private Airbnb accommodation in Florida this week.
Biden, however, didn’t just criticize the profiteers. He also condemned the “reckless, irresponsible disinformation and outright lies that continue to flow” since Hurricane Helene — much of which are being spread by the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
In late September, Hurricane Helene devastated several southeastern US states, killing more than 200 people. As the cleanup operation was still ongoing, Trump railed against the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris — who is also his Democratic rival for the presidency on November 5.
“The White House is doing nothing,” Trump declared at a campaign appearance in Wisconsin last Sunday. “They’ve abandoned us in, you know, what’s largely a Republican area” — where Helene has caused extensive damage. His followers reacted with vocal outrage.
But what Trump said is not true. Republican governors of affected states such as Georgia and Florida have stated that they are in contact with Biden, and have received the help they needed from Washington.
Despite this, Trump’s campaign rhetoric about the Biden administration’s supposed indifference has resonated with people more powerfully than the truth. “It has a huge impact on Americans’ trust in government,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a history professor at the University of California, Davis.
“If a presidential candidate, and former president, tells them that they cannot believe what the current government is saying, and that the current government is refusing to help them and is lying to them, then of course [Trump’s] supporters are going to think that what he says is true,” Olmsted, who conducts research into conspiracy theories, told DW by email.
Trump also criticized FEMA, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. Claiming that millions of FEMA dollars had gone to irregular migrants, Trump declared that, as a result, there was nothing left for victims of the hurricane. According to the former president, people who had lost everything in the hurricane were getting only $750 (about €685) in government aid.
This, too, is false. FEMA does run a program that helps migrants, but the budget for that is completely separate from the funds for disaster relief. And $750 is just the initial emergency aid payment that those affected are being given to buy essentials like food, clothes and baby supplies. After this, those whose houses have been destroyed will be able to claim several thousand dollars in support. FEMA has detailed this information on a website set up specifically to counter disinformation.
The Biden administration is also actively addressing hurricane disinformation online. The White House has an account on the social media forum Reddit, where it is sharing pictures and information about the government’s response to hurricanes Helene and Milton.
It’s an unusual approach by the US government. But so close to the US presidential election, there is more than just its own reputation at stake. The disinformation is harming those most urgently in need of help.
“Disinformation makes it much more difficult for government officials to help people,” said Olmsted. “Victims of a disaster might refuse to go to a shelter, or to evacuate, or to accept aid from the government.”
She said the effects of Trump’s words could clearly be seen in the way people responded to Hurricane Milton, which tore across Florida this week, causing millions of dollars in damage and killing at least 16 people.
“I’m sure it affected some Trump supporters,” said Olmsted. “He told them not to believe their government officials, so why would they listen to the evacuation orders?”
Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, also criticized Trump’s behavior in an interview with Stephen Colbert, the TV presenter of “The Late Show,” which is regarded as politically liberal.
“What upsets me so is the idea that any politician would play political games with these folks, with people who are in the midst of such suffering,” Harris said, on an episode broadcast on Tuesday evening. “And then, for the sake of political gain, tell these lies in a way that is meant to make people distrust the help that is there for them to receive.”
However, her appearance on the comedy talk show, during which she sipped a beer with Colbert, has made Harris, too, the object of criticism. The presenters of the conservative talk show “Fox and Friends” on the Trump-friendly network Fox News described it as extremely inappropriate. A presidential candidate should not be going on “lighthearted” programs like the “The Late Show” when people in North Carolina were still struggling with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, they said.
This article was originally written in German.