US president accuses predecessor of main ‘onslaught of lies’ about authorities’s response to the storms.
United States President Joe Biden has condemned misinformation about Hurricanes Milton and Helene as “un-American”, singling out his predecessor for making false claims concerning the authorities’s rescue and restoration efforts.
Talking as Hurricane Milton was on the verge of creating landfall in Florida on Wednesday, Biden mentioned individuals in want of assist have been being put in danger by the “reckless, irresponsible and relentless” promotion of disinformation concerning the authorities’s response to the storms.
“Fairly frankly, these lies are un-American,” Biden mentioned in remarks on the White Home.
“Former President Trump has led this onslaught of lies.”
Biden signalled out a lot of baseless claims made by Trump, together with that catastrophe reduction funds had been diverted to migrants.
“What a ridiculous factor to say. It’s not true,” Biden mentioned.
Requested by reporters why he thought Trump was spreading false claims concerning the authorities’s response, Biden mentioned he didn’t know.
“I merely don’t know. You may speculate, however I simply discover it – I’ve used the phrase greater than I’ve ever used it in my profession – it’s un-American. It’s un-American. It’s not who the hell we’re,” he mentioned.
Biden additionally condemned the promotion of “much more weird” claims by Republican Home of Representatives member Marjorie Taylor Greene, an in depth Trump ally.
“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal authorities is actually controlling the climate – we’re controlling the climate,” he mentioned. “It’s past ridiculous. It’s obtained to cease.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for November’s presidential election, levelled related criticism at Trump in an interview with CNN, branding his behaviour “unconscionable”.
“Everyone knows it’s harmful, and the gamesmanship has to cease sooner or later, the politics have to finish, particularly in a second of disaster,” Harris mentioned.
Trump on Wednesday reiterated his criticism of the Biden administration’s dealing with of the disaster.
“This administration has not completed a correct job in any respect. Horrible, horrible,” Trump mentioned at a marketing campaign rally in the important thing swing state of Pennsylvania.
“We simply pray for everyone,” he mentioned. “We hope that God will preserve them protected.”
Hurricane Milton made landfall close to Siesta Key, Florida at about 8:30pm (01:30 GMT Thursday) native time, battering the coastal state with winds of as much as 193km/h (120mph).
Milton, which the Nationwide Hurricane Heart has described as “extraordinarily harmful” and “life-threatening”, comes lower than two weeks after Hurricane Helene killed a minimum of 230 individuals throughout Florida and several other different southern states.
