'Disqualifying': Outrage mounts as ex-Trump official reveals alarming wildfire response
Many political observers were shocked Thursday by news that former President Donald Trump balked at helping California wildfire victims until he learned Republican voters were among them.
President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were just a few readers to express outrage after two former White House officials revealed they had to show the then-president voting data to get him to release disaster funding in 2018.
"You can’t only help those in need if they voted for you," Biden wrote on X. "It’s the most basic part of being president, and this guy knows nothing about it."
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this week have been barraged by attacks on the right over the federal response to the deadly Hurricane Helene, which recent reports show has claimed at least 200 lives.
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But when Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) tried Thursday to slam that response as "slow" and "overly-bureaucratic," one X user replied with E&E News reporter Scott Waldman's exact words:
"Two former Trump White House officials told me they had to show voter data to Trump to get him to release disaster funding to CA wildfire victims," Waldman wrote. "He released it after learning that he had as many GOP supporters in Orange Co. as he did in Iowa. "
Newsom, a Democrat, argued the reporting foretold trouble for his state — any any other blue state hit by natural disasters — should Trump be reelected in November.
"A glimpse into the future if we elect [Trump]," he wrote. "Trump was willing to hold back aid after devastating wildfires in California until he saw proof that people liked him. He doesn’t care about America. He only cares about himself."
Mike Nellis, the former adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris targeted by Republicans for his connection to Trump's hush money judge, slammed the conservative party for their attacks on Hurricane Helene response efforts.
"Of course, it turns out it was actually Trump who withheld federal aid from the victims of the 2018 California wildfires because they lived in a blue state," Nellis wrote.
"This kind of behavior should be immediately disqualifying, but we’re so far down the rabbit hole that it’ll barely register. I guarantee you, if a Democrat did something like that, they’d be tarred and feathered—and rightly so."
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Attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a fellow at the American Immigration Council, emphasized the fact that Mark Harvey, Trump's senior director for resiliency policy, was willing to put his name to the report.
"Wow," the attorney wrote. "On the record source, not anonymous, from a former official who directly interacted with Trump on this specific issue."
Heather Reid, a managing director at the advocacy group Climate Power, detailed what Trump's reported delay put at stake.
"Trump KNEW that people's homes, livelihoods, and whole lives had been destroyed by wildfires," Reid wrote, "and yet he couldn't be bothered to release disaster aid until his staff convinced him that *Republican voters* needed help, too."
Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of the liberal podcast Pod Save America, said Trump should have faced legal consequences for his actions.
"I know everyone has become numb to Trump’s conduct," he wrote, "but this is exactly the sort of abuse of power that the impeachment clause was created for."
His co-host Jon Favreau looked toward the none-too-distant future, namely a Harris campaign event in Wisconsin Thursday afternoon that will feature former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney.
"Trump relied on voter data to decide which disaster victims to help," Favreau wrote. "Not a bad thing for Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney to hit today as they talk about putting country over party."