If a lies is repeated often enough, the weak minded Neo-GOP will believe it.
"The Feb. 16 announcement on that issue also said, “The DeWine Administration has been in daily contact with FEMA to discuss the need for federal support, however FEMA continues to tell Governor DeWine that Ohio is not eligible for assistance at this time. Governor DeWine will continue working with FEMA to determine what assistance can be provided.”
Soon after,
Fox News and the
Gateway Pundit ran headlines claiming that the Biden administration “denies” or “turns down” disaster assistance, contributing to the now viral social media claims.
“We did not apply and get rejected,” Tierney said. “It just so happens the program everyone associates with disasters doesn’t apply,” he said, since FEMA deals largely with property damage.
But, on Feb. 17, DeWine’s office decided to request a disaster declaration in order to preserve the right for FEMA assistance if Norfolk Southern pulls out or other circumstances change, Tierney said.
“[T]o ensure that East Palestine can receive assistance from FEMA should this disaster qualify for FEMA aid in the future, Governor DeWine is preemptively filing a request with FEMA to preserve these rights,” the Ohio EMA announced in a
statement that day.
So, it’s not true that the Biden administration has denied aid to those affected by the crash. As we said, the EPA, NTSB and HHS have all contributed resources in the aftermath of the crash, and FEMA has been in contact with emergency officials in Ohio as well as sending some workers to the scene.
Shortly after the crash, DeWine got a call from Biden, the governor
said at a Feb. 14 press conference. “He told me that he wanted just to assure me that anything I needed from the federal government, they would supply, and told me to call him personally if there was anything that we needed at any point,” DeWine said.
Overall, Tierney said, the Republican governor has been trying to work collaboratively with the federal government on the response and
“we’ve gotten support when it’s been asked for.”
The people affected by the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, do not qualify for direct financial aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But FEMA and other federal agencies have been assisting since the accident there in early February. Social media posts have misleadingly...
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