Tipsheet

KJP Claims It's 'False' FEMA Used Funds for Illegal Immigrants. That's Not What She Was Saying in 2022.

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 06, 2024 9:00 AM

As Townhall has been covering, the Biden-Harris administration's response to Hurricane Helene has been just awful. Unsurprisingly, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has offered poor defenses, including when it comes to FEMA's shameful failures. According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the agency is out of money for hurricane season, though illegal immigrants have received assistance, and the agency has been focused on "equity."

During Friday's press briefing, Jean-Pierre was confronted about how "former President Trump is accusing the Biden administration of using FEMA funding to support undocumented migrants," with the reporter wanting to know "how is the White House responding to that?"

Jean-Pierre sought to deny Trump's point, emphasizing "it is a false statement," as she hid behind a fact-check from The Washington Post.

While Jean-Pierre may be claiming now that such a concern about illegal immigrants is "false," that wasn't what she was saying about FEMA a little more than two years ago. In 2022, Govs. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) were bussing illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities, having had enough of the influx of illegal immigration under the Biden-Harris administration.

Jean-Pierre spent the press briefings from September 15 and 16 of that year ranting and raving against Republicans, as she tried and failed to blame political opponents on the immigration issue. 

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Even more so telling in contrast to this most recent press briefing, is what she had to say about the assistance FEMA provides to those illegal immigrants. 

After claiming, with a straight face, that Republicans were "creating chaos and... confusion," Jean-Pierre offered that "the administration has been in regular touch with the cities, and FEMA Regional Administrators have been meeting with city officials on site to coordinate available federal support from FEMA and other federal agencies." 

Jean-Pierre was even more clear from there, as she pointed out that "funding is also available through FEMA’s emergency food and shelter program to eligible local governments and not-for-profit organizations upon request to support humanitarian relief for these migrants."

Jean-Pierre made almost the same remarks the very next day, during the September 16 press briefing, as the Post Millennial and Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) took notice of.

After once more lamenting "repeated attempts by these Republican officials to create chaos and confusion at the border," Jean-Pierre tried to offer that "we are working to manage the consequences of including this latest political charade that we’re seeing." That's where FEMA was again brought up. "So, FEMA Regional Administrators have been meeting with city officials on site to coordinate--to coordinate available federal support from FEMA and other federal agencies," she offered. 

She again brought up how this related to the illegal immigrants. "Funding is also available through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program to eligible local governments and not- — not-for-profit organizations upon request to support humanitarian relief for migrants," said Jean-Pierre.

As Mia also reminded last Friday, Mayorkas had claimed three months ago that FEMA was "tremendously prepared" for hurricane season. 

Meanwhile, another hurricane is headed for Florida. Milton, currently a tropical storm, could hit the state as a category 3 hurricane over the next few days. 

As part of the bungled response, the Biden-Harris administration remains laser focused on anti-Israel and anti-American priorities by sympathizing most with Lebanon, showing a foreign nation much more care and concern than those in the southeastern United States. This includes Vice President Kamala Harris, as Matt covered, though Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also been ratioed for his own tone deafness on the matter.