CNN host Dana Bash claimed former President Donald Trump was "hurting" his own MAGA voters by spreading conspiracy theories about FEMA support in western North Carolina in the aftermath of flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
"The Biden administration is blasting Donald Trump's barrage of lies in the wake of Hurricane Helene," Bash said during a CNN panel discussion on Monday. "The former president is falsely accusing federal relief agencies of maliciously withholding and misusing aid."
"They're rumors, and they're lies, and they are hurting the very people," the CNN host said. "The thousands of FEMA emergency responders are trying to help as we speak."
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has said that Trump's remarks made it challenging to get people to apply for aid.
"If I can't get them to apply, I can't give them the money and the resources that they're eligible for," Criswell explained.
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CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez said that Trump surrogates like RNC co-chair Lara Trump were conflating funds for migrant shelters with disaster relief aid.
"The money has not been and never has been transferred over," Alvarez insisted. "All of this to say that when I have been talking to my sources about what the former president is saying, the ultimate concern is that people will not apply for assistance."
