Following the disaster of Hurricane Milton, there were multiple reports throughout the affected areas in the south that FEMA workers were politicizing the response by skipping over homes that displayed Trump signs.
It’s maddening to think that such a thing could happen in the United States.
Following these reports, there were denials from some FEMA people while some pointed fingers at others claiming they were told this was official policy. In short, it mess and some people were fired.
Now the journalist Matt Taibbi has exposed more proof that this was happening.
Exclusive: FEMA Workers Improperly Collected Data About Politics of Disaster Victims
Last November 8th, on the Saturday after Election Day, one of the more bizarre post-scripts to Donald Trump’s re-election emerged in the form of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) decision to sideline one official accused of telling FEMA workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” while canvassing for victims of Hurricane Milton in Florida. The Daily Wire spoke to multiple FEMA officials who produced screenshots of entries like “Trump sign, no contact per leadership”…
A year later, the Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Security is releasing a review of that episode, the broader issue of using disaster relief work to collect political intelligence on voters, and the potentially withholding of benefits from some with the wrong beliefs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new administration found more than just one “isolated incident,” describing violations of the Privacy Act of 1974, which with a few exceptions bars collection of information about First Amendment-protected speech, like political signage. Most tellingly, though, DHS investigators found — in a near-exact parallel to trends in pro-censorship programs — that a lot of the political controversy surrounding FEMA aid grew out of the vague way in which the agency’s Disaster Survivor Assistance Field Operations Guide was written…
Some examples cited: October, 2021: “Homeowner had sign stated… this is Trump country.” September, 2021: “A lot of political flags, posters, etc. ‘Fuck Joe Biden,’ ‘MAGA 2024,’ ‘Joe Biden Sucks’ ‘Trump 2024’ We do not recommend anyone visiting this location.” November 2024: ‘There was a political flyer so I didn’t leave a FEMA brochure.” Neither Criswell nor Washington responded to requests for comment.
It’s just stunning that this even happened at all.
Democrats and people in the media like to claim that the country is ‘so divided’ right now. This was proof that the division is being driven by the left’s hatred of Trump and his supporters.