‘He Doesn’t Have Food’: North Carolina Man Left Destitute After Rejecting Hurricane Aid Because of Right-Wing FEMA Conspiracies Spewed By Donald Trump, Family Says: ‘So many people are under the spell of this freaking con man’
‘He Doesn’t Have Food’: North Carolina Man Left Destitute After Rejecting Hurricane Aid Because of Right-Wing FEMA Conspiracies Spewed By Donald Trump, Family Says: ‘So many people are under the spell of this freaking con man’
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As per [original article](https://atlantablackstar.com/2024/10/11/north-carolina-man-turned-down-hurricane-aid-because-of-right-wing-fema-conspiracies/) 📰:
– They border on the ridiculous, but in a world where Donald Trump’s words are taken as gospel by many of his supporters, [far-fetched conspiracies](https://www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response) surrounding the Federal Emergency Management Agency and disaster relief have only added to the chaotic aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton.
A recent caller to “The Dan Abrams Show” on Sirius/XM detailed how his father-in-law, who lives in flood-ravaged Asheville, North Carolina, is refusing aid from FEMA because he believes if he does, the federal government will assume ownership of his home.
“It really sucks and I don’t understand how so many people are under the spell of this freaking con man,” the caller, who identified himself as Anthony, told Abrams. “I don’t understand it.”
The caller was referring to the GOP presidential nominee, who’s made conspiracy theories a hallmark of his re-election campaign. Trump and his acolytes, using X, formerly Twitter, as their favored platform, have circulated one seemingly farcical rumor after another about a sinister federal government that, they say, either caused the hurricanes or is unresponsive to them. Some have even alleged that FEMA officials are interfering with search and rescue efforts.
The misinformation campaign started last month after Helene ripped through the South, causing massive damage in parts of the region considered Trump strongholds.
That’s no coincidence, Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted last week.
“Yes they can control the weather,” she wrote on X. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
Trump then weighed in, claiming, without evidence, that Democrats were withholding aid from Republican areas hit hardest by Helene. He alleged that President Joe Biden wasn’t taking Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp‘s calls, even though both men confirmed they had communicated earlier that same day.
Further politicizing the storm, Trump and his devotees have claimed that FEMA is broke and only offers $750 in total financial assistance. (That’s just the initial payout). Feeding on their theme of white victimhood, the conspiracists say the agency’s funding has been diverted to assist illegal immigrants, including to a program that gets noncitizens to vote.
The claim that FEMA will seize land from survivors is actually [a leftover conspiracy from the Maui wildfires](https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/fema-no-property-home-seizure-eminent-domain-when-providing-disaster-assistance-maui-wildfires/536-52bb2ecb-5472-44b4-8227-85410347ca7d) in 2023. It gained traction in Florida, which made the already challenging effort to encourage people to evacuate even more difficult.
“Spreading LIES like this could have serious consequences,” tweeted Christina Pushaw, spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. She warned those responsible for spreading the misinformation were “putting their own lives (and the lives of first responders) at grave risk.”
However, all the warnings in the world mean nothing to some if they contradict Trump.
“I mean, he lost almost everything, and he’s refusing all help from the federal government and complaining to us that he doesn’t have food, that he doesn’t have the stuff he needs, and yet he won’t accept the help,” “Anthony,” told Abrams.
His father-in-law “just believes Trump,” he continued. “What the hell are we supposed to do? There’s people begging us to get him to accept help, and he won’t do it. And I guarantee you, I’m not the only one. I guarantee you I’m not the only one.”
It’s unclear just how many people may be resisting aid because of these toxic conspiracy theories. But at the very least, they’ve added undue stress to already devastating scenes.
Some Republicans in these storm-ravaged areas have felt compelled to challenge the lies, though they’ve been careful not to mention Trump’s role in circulating them.
“We have seen a level of support that is unmatched by most any other disaster nationwide; but amidst all of the support, we have also seen an uptick in untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos by sharing hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and hearsay about hurricane response efforts across our mountains,” [conservative congressman Chuck Edwards (R-NC) said in a statement](https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4923597-north-carolina-chuck-edwards-hurricane-helene-misinformation/).
“Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and access lithium deposits in Chimney Rock,” Edwards said. “Nobody can control the weather,” adding that the current geoengineering technology can mitigate some negative consequences, “but it cannot be used to create or manipulate hurricanes.”
The chain of falsehoods has also led to fears of violence. NPR reported that, on X, one post warned that FEMA employees would be shot if they “continue blocking/seizing aid.” Another post, since removed, called for militias to resist FEMA. Each post received more than one million views.
“I mean, we’re literally, I mean, we’re at the point where, like, screw them,” “Anthony” lamented. “I mean, if they’re going to listen to Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity over us who have his best interest at heart, or my wife, my poor wife is like, the hell with them.”
“He’s a cult member,” “Anthony” continued. “I’m sorry to say it. He’s a cult member. And he’s my father-in-law, and it sucks.”
——
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The sad thing is even with this actual example of how MAGA and their mouthpieces are hurting people with their lies, it will be ignored or cause them to double down and say it isn’t real. Truly they do not live in reality
Thoughts and prayers. You know just like every right winger says after anything bad happens to someone else.
he’s getting his fans hurt or killed.
if they started dumb af then slowly used maga to turn them into better people by exposing the conspiracies as nonsense themselves then it would have been great but they’re getting dumber.
Lies are the calculated choice and we all see them.
We all witness them.
We watch on a daily basis as events unfold a propaganda focused political group asking for no focus on reality.
We watched them groom their flock to say “fake news” at any fact check. Instant psychological shutting off doubts.
They know. MAGA knows they laugh at the Q anon super zealots in their own party like this fella.
They dont care to acknowledge the harm as a choice of what this culture harms when its themselves foremost.
Real people are following profound calculated choices of absolute fabrication and skewing things with massive real destruction.
When will the people that give this fool and his liars power going to denounce and ask for anything better?
It seems there is no anything they wont throw in front of the bus. IMO.
You all deserve better as we watch your sad abhorrent permissible eventuality. Gleefully loving 1940’s Germany esque’ political ramping up of division hate and deep down inside you have to know your voting and giving this immunity. IMO. Immune to reality just handcuffed to all abhorrence and that would be a pain you would live with.
You have to live with that vote. Knowing this person chooses to lie to its own. to the extent they lose everything.
Rightwingers die. We have to get over it. Its a fact of life. Deal with it. And all the other shit they tell people after mass shootings.
> difficult.
“Spreading LIES like this could have serious consequences,” tweeted Christina Pushaw, spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. She warned those responsible for spreading the misinformation were “putting their own lives (and the lives of first responders) at grave risk.”
Well that’s unexpected given how DeSantis is very much a gleeful player in disinformation.
So sad. This person is lost beyond reason
It’s not a spell, it’s utter ignorance and motivated by hatred.
Serious question, and maybe I need to ask this in /Law forum, but here goes. With so many folks now clearly under the influence of certifiable nonsense like; “the Dems control the weather” or “the government will own your home if you accept food”, is there a legal line to start a class action lawsuit? I feel like we have victims of these people spreading lies and those lies have created greater hardship, potentially and even deaths at this point because the victims no longer believe in reality. Can families of the victims sue to at a minimum quiet these MAGA cult leaders??
Reap what you sow, there is a price to pay for being a brain dead conspiracy theorist.
I honestly have little sympathy for people who trade in their intelligence for believing bullshit.
My best friend is a Trumper. Callls herself a “conservative”. We have agreed not to discuss politics for the sake of our friendship. But last night we were talking about Helene and Milton and she brought up the diverting FEMA funds thing. I objected that it wasn’t true & people were conflating Border Patrol, ICE and an immigrant assistance program. It wasn’t received well. So I googled and sent her a couple of links from USA Today and similar not liberal MSNBC or NYT. Wonder what she will reply…
I was listening to Dan Abrams’ show live when this caller came on. I stopped what I was doing to focus on his words, it was that riveting. The guy was absolutely beside himself and sounded exhausted, devasted, and pissed. He was on the verge of tears when he said (I’m mildly paraphrasing), “He’s in a fucking cult under the spell of this con man, he’s my father in law, my wife is absolutely devastated and I don’t know what to do.”
IDK if this is up on YouTube, but it’s worth looking up if so. It’s hard to accurately describe the desperation in this guy’s voice.
Sad to say but if he starves to death it is on him and his cult. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink as the old saying goes.
So sad, oh well. I wonder when the new episode of Only Murders in the Building comes out?
Yes, he deserves to die and I hope he burns in hell.
Great, it’s a self-correcting problem then.
Why is this so hard? It’s a cult. Get it. Heavens Gate. Jim Jones and his 2000 dead followers in Jonestown. Same, same.
This is so sad, that man caused nothing but suffering in this,
He’s evil and they don’t see it.
THIS is why that bloated barfbag NEEDS to be jailed ! ( NOT doing so says definitively that our “justice system” is a JOKE and will INVITE CRIMINALITY at levels unheard of !!!)
Now watch him still vote for Trump.
God said that not everyone can be saved. And that’s on them at this point. God gives us warnings and if people listen, great. If not, these are the ones putting the Lord to the test (WHICH GOD THEMSELVES SAID NEVER TO DO.)
There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.
Isaac Asimov
Idk I’m getting tired of feeling sorry for these people.
Drink the Flavor Aid already.
Walton Simons is furious.
You can’t fix stupid. At some point, they are the only ones who can figure it out, if they choose to do so.
Further glaring evidence that MAGAts are corrosive not only to democracy but to humanity.
We have been exposed to this man on a national level now for 10 years and there’s been more than enough information out there that the man is 💩. People who follow, worship and adore him deserve all that happened to them.
How you doin Rudy Giuliani? 🙄
Very sad! Trump should be charged with manslaughter if he causes this man’s death as a result this man’s belief in Trump’s lies.
He will probably wait until the aid runs out so he can say see it’s true.
Darwin Award, that man deserves it.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Willing to die for a man who doesn’t care about them.
Survival of the fittest?
Tell him to hang in! Trump is walking there right now! It just takes a while with full hip waders.
Take it easy on Trump too! No president has ever been treated so unfairly! Maybe Lincoln! But that’s it!
Trump let a million people die from covid. He sent vital tools that were needed here, in America, to his buddy Vlad so he could test anybody he met with. America is almost first! We’re next in line. Like second. But we’re almost next.
And why is Putin so afraid of Covid? Like beyond afraid? 20 meter long table for 1 on 1 meetings. Hiding out in his trillion dollar mansion? It’s like he knows something about Covid? Or maybe he did have cancer? Sus.
If anybody decides to take Trump and his messages to heart, maybe this is just Darwin stepping in and cleaning the barn, to steal a phrase from the right?
Lives ruined by lies. What is happening to our country. People are fooled into harming themselves, and nothing can be done to stop it. This has the smell of the devil and everything evil.
This is really an evil cult, and they don’t care who gets hurt or killed. We need a national intervention to bring faith and belief back to our country.
Have faith and #vote blue and support Kamala Harris and the party of truth and hope.
I don’t wish misfortune on anyone. However, I also cannot stop them from bringing it upon themselves. Humans will do what they want. This is the herd culling themselves. I hope that if enough folks put themselves through these scenarios, that others within the cult will begin to see the error of their ways.
We, those of us with sound minds, should still offer help with arms outstretched and not ostracize those who need help. Change can’t be forced, it must be accepted. That being said, we need to vote their sources of this malignant hateful speech so far gone, the exposure is negligible.
And nothing will change with these people.
I *used to try to be compassionate to these idiots*, now I just say: If they want to be rats on the sinking ship that is Trump? *Let them drown*
That’s why I just shake my head…critical thinking skills in MAGA land are few and far between
Let them eat cake