CNN Anchor Spars With Republican Over Trump Pushing 'A Lot Of Lies' On Hurricane Response

CNN anchor Abby Phillip checked former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado ® on Friday for dismissing Donald Trump’s false claims about the response to Hurricane Helene by President Joe Biden’s administration.

Phillip pointed to video clips of the GOP presidential nominee incorrectly saying this week that the federal government is offering “no help” because it’s spending money on migrants instead of relief for those impacted by the deadly storm.

“They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank,” the former president claimed at a rally in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday, in reference to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“They’re missing a billion dollars that they gave to migrants coming into our country,” he told a crowd in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Friday.

Phillip gave a blunt assessment of the clips.

“If you can believe it, none of that is true,” she said. “That was a lot of lies in a few seconds.”

Maldonado, who was once considered for a Trump administration role and served as California lieutenant governor under Arnold Schwarzenegger, proceeded to say that he didn’t see Trump “politicizing this storm.”

“He is down there showing that he’s a leader,” Maldonado said.

“But he’s claiming that Biden is withholding aid because these people are, I guess, presumptively Republicans. That’s just patently false,” Phillip replied.

Some GOP officials in areas impacted by Helene have sought to shut down claims of a poor federal government response or encouraged people to “put aside the hate for a bit and pitch in to help.”

Maldonado, in response to Phillip, described Trump as “raising the flag” to say that states impacted by Helene “need a lot of help.”

“The one thing that you can’t accuse him of not being