Mark Harvey, ex-aide to former President Donald Trump, said that while in office, Trump initially refused to provide disaster relief for California due to the state’s Democratic lean, according to Politico’s E&E News.
Harvey, senior director for resilience policy on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, said in the article published Thursday that the former president only decided to provide relief after Harvey showed Trump that Orange County, ravaged by wildfires in 2018, had a high number of Trump supporters.
“We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you,” Harvey told the outlet.
A person familiar with the matter told Newsweek,“There was a consistent pattern of delay that required us to pull together all information we could to help move disaster aid quickly,” during the Trump administration.
In response to the report, Trump campaign manager Steven Cheung told Newsweek in an emailed statement, “None of this is true and is nothing more than a fabricated story from someone’s demented imagination.”
Orange County, just south of Los Angeles, has traditionally been considered more supportive of Republican presidents until the last two election cycles. In 2016, the county backed the Democratic candidate, with 50.9 percent of voters choosing Hillary Clinton versus 42.3 percent for Trump. In 2020, a majority of the county again voted blue, as 53.5 percent of voters backed President Joe Biden, with 44.5 percent supporting Trump.
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According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, “The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season on record in California, with a total of over 7,500 fires burning an area of over 1,670,000 acres, the largest area of burned acreage recorded in a fire season.”
Harvey recently endorsed Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, and is a critic of Trump, similar to former aide Olivia Troye, who supported Harvey’s claims pertaining to the wildfires. Harvey last month signed a letter saying that Trump is “unfit to serve.”
Troye, who served as White House homeland security adviser during Trump’s administration, added that the Republican presidential nominee is politicizing Hurricane Helene, which ravaged the Southeast last week, killing more than 200 people and leaving millions without power.
Trump on Monday claimed during a stop in Valdosta, Georgia, which was pounded by Helene, that Governor Brian Kemp was “having a hard time” calling Biden on the phone to discuss federal emergency relief.
The former president told reporters that he had heard the Biden administration was “not being responsive” to requests from Kemp, a Republican who endorsed Trump in November over Harris. But Kemp earlier on Monday had said that he spoke with Biden on Sunday evening on the phone, and that the president was ready to provide Georgia with any aid necessary.
“He’s lying, and the governor told him he was lying,” Biden said in response to Trump’s comments, according to a pool report from the White House.
“I’ve spoken to the governor, spent time with him, and he told [Trump] he’s lying,” Biden added. “I don’t know why [Trump] does it … that’s simply not true, and it’s irresponsible.”
Biden on Thursday afternoon replied to Politico’s E&E article on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “You can’t only help those in need if they voted for you. It’s the most basic part of being president, and this guy knows nothing about it.”
Disaster relief funding is at the forefront of political discourse this week, as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday said there is not enough money available for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to meet the needs of the communities devastated by Hurricane Helene.
The funding shortfall has come under scrutiny, as at least $640 million in agency funding has been allocated to assist communities across the country dealing with an influx of migrants.
