By Tom Fielder
Standing amid the dirt and damage of Asheville’s formerly fashionable Biltmore Village, Congressional Republicans — the Speaker of the House, Rep. Michael Johnson; Rep. Chuck Edwards; and North Carolina U.S. Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis — promised support for rebuilding the region devastated by tropical storm Helene.
Johnson said that he had previously toured locations in Florida and Georgia along the storm’s path, but said “I think some of the worst devastation is probably right here in North Carolina.”
“It’s important for the Speaker of the House to come,” Johnson said. “It’s symbolic to show that the whole of Congress has our eyes and our attention and our prayers … You will not be forgotten.”
The news conference came at the conclusion of a daylong tour by Republican Party leaders that included visits to the destroyed community of Swannanoa and the wreckage of historic Biltmore Village. Johnson promised that the House will work “in a bipartisan fashion to supply what is needed to help.”
Despite that pledge, Johnson quickly pivoted to a political attack when a local reporter asked if he agreed with a debunked claim by GOP presidential-nominee Donald Trump that on-site staff from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) were wrongly telling storm victims that the maximum benefit is $750. (There is no cap on claims.)
Johnson ducked the question and seemed to make an excuse for Trump by saying “There’s a lot of confusion about how FEMA operates.”
Johnson repeats falsehoods that Edwards debunked
Johnson then launched into an attack on FEMA for what he called a slow and overly bureaucratic response — an allegation that Rep. Edwards, who was standing at Johnson’s side, had debunked in a heated statement released Monday night.
Johnson also seemed to echo another of Trump’s false charges, that FEMA money — at the direction of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee — has been diverted from emergency assistance programs and directed to illegal immigrants. The Speaker falsely told reporters in Asheville that “They used an account in FEMA to resettle illegal aliens,” implying that the money otherwise would be available to help this region recover.
That charge was also refuted by Edwards in his earlier statement in which he said: “FEMA has NOT diverted disaster response funding to the border or foreign aid. Disaster response aid and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts.”
He also debunked a related Trump false claim that FEMA was running out of money to provide disaster aid. “FEMA is not going to run out of money,” Edwards said.
The statement, issued under the headline “Debunking Helene Response Myths,” did not name Trump, vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, or other radical GOP politicians who have used false charges against FEMA and the Biden-Harris Administration for political gain.
‘Good, old-fashioned storytelling’
During the press conference held in a parking lot on the entrance road to the Biltmore Estate, Edwards seemed to push against Johnson’s criticism of FEMA and to defend the agency. But he also softened his previous attack on the rumor mongers, including, though not naming, Trump.
“As far as the rumors that are out there, I interpret that to good, old-fashioned storytelling,” Edwards said. “I have chased every rabbit hole that has been brought to my attention, like [people saying] that FEMA turned something away, or didn’t do this or that, and I found every one of those to be false.”
But Edwards pivoted quickly after the press briefing when he was asked by an Asheville Watchdog reporter if he wasn’t contradicting Speaker Johnson’s agreement with Trump’s assertion that FEMA funds have been diverted from this region because they were spent to support illegal immigrants.
Backpedaling from his written statement the night before, Edwards denied that — despite its use of the word “debunked” — it had characterized that allegation as false. He walked quickly away, ignoring follow-up questions.
During a press briefing at the White House on the same subject late Wednesday, an angry President Joe Biden attacked the sources of “reckless, relentless, irresponsible and … outright lies” criticizing the administration’s response to the devastation in Western North Carolina.
In unusually blunt words, Biden traced the torrent of deliberate disinformation to Trump, who has recently incorporated the FEMA falsehoods in his standard campaign-rally speeches.
“What the hell,” Biden fumed, then checked himself, rephrasing as what the “heck are they talking about? It’s false. Stop it!”
Johnson took a personal swipe at the Democratic president while attempting to burnish Trump’s purported reputation for generosity. The Louisiana Republican said that Trump had personally pledged to donate money to assist the storm’s victims, a gesture he has made during past catastrophes and rarely delivered, according to numerous media investigations. He said Biden hasn’t promised any personal donations.
“While Joe Biden was sitting at his Delaware beach house having fun with [TV comedian] Steven Colbert,” Johnson said. Although Biden had been at his vacation home when the storm hit, he has since toured the region on the ground and by helicopter. Vice President Harris met with state officials in Charlotte days after the storm to gauge the situation and promise a strong federal response.
Tillis, the state’s senior Republican office holder and a frequent Trump critic, attempted to stop the questioning about Trump’s campaign claims and urged reporters to focus on the region’s recovery. When a reporter attempted a second time to get an answer to the question of whether Trump was falsely spreading misinformation by saying FEMA aid to individuals was capped, Tillis snapped: “Is that all you can think about at this time?”
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and dean emeritus from Boston University who lives in Asheville. Email him at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
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