‘Frankly ridiculous’: FEMA administrator slams Trump for boosting false Helene recovery claims

• FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell criticized Donald Trump for spreading false information about how the Biden administration allocated disaster relief funding for Hurricane Helene recovery.
• Trump falsely claimed last week that FEMA was running out of money to aid its disaster relief efforts, because the White House had used the funds "on illegal migrants coming into the country."
• FEMA received a $20 billion cash boost from the stopgap funding bill that Congress passed to avert a government shutdown, which went into effect last Tuesday.

Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday criticized former President Donald Trump for spreading false information about how the Biden administration allocated disaster relief funding for Hurricane Helene recovery.

"It's frankly ridiculous and just plain false," Criswell said in an interview on ABC's "This Week." "This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people. It's really a shame that we're putting politics ahead of helping people."

As hurricane season ramps up, Trump falsely claimed last week that FEMA was running out of money to aid its disaster relief efforts, because the White House had used the funds "on illegal migrants coming into the country."

FEMA and other agencies have since fact-checked that disinformation.

On FEMA's "Rumor Response" webpage, the agency specifically addressed the claim that FEMA disaster relief funding "was diverted to support international efforts or border related issues."

"This is false. No money is being diverted from disaster response needs," the agency wrote.

The Department of Homeland Security and White House have issued their own statements fact-checking and condemning the false claims.

But the Trump campaign and the