Hurricane Milton, the ninth hurricane of the 2024 season, became the second-most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded over the Gulf of Mexico as it passed through Florida this week. With winds reaching 185 mph, the Category 5 storm came only two weeks after Hurricane Helene battered through the state, forcing an evacuation of some 2 million people. As the storm finally dissipates, at least 23 people are revealed to have been killed, with preliminary damage estimates reaching over $30 billion. Over 1 million Floridians remain without power, and about one in three gas stations across the state remained closed Saturday. The focus has now turned to recovery efforts centered around restoring power, clearing debris, and assisting victims in the wake of the storm.
As families weep over their losses and attempt to recover, the bickering of politicians up in Washington is not helping. Current vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris called CNN on Wednesday to bash former president and current opponent Donald Trump over his comments about the latest storms.
“It is dangerous, it is unconscionable, frankly,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash, “that anyone who considers themselves a leader would mislead desperate people… The last thing that they deserve is to have a so-called leader make them more afraid than they already are.”
Her comments come as Trump the previous week repeatedly attacked Harris and the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, claiming that it was “going even worse” than Katrina.
“There’s nobody that’s handled a hurricane or storm worse than what they’re doing right now,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan last week. “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants.” Many Republican lawmakers echoed his claims. This is despite disaster relief funds being completely separate from other grant programs administered by FEMA.
Such comments by such visible political leaders are at best irresponsible and at worst dangerous. As families remain stranded and flooding continues in many areas throughout Florida, hatred is the last thing people need. Trump’s comment only serves to create even more division in an already deeply divided country, eroding trust in the government right as people need it most. The goal of his message is clear—immigration has become one of the most major issues on voter’s minds as the presidential election looms, and by connecting almost anything to the border crisis, which he has labeled as one of the Biden administration’s greatest failures, he hopes to gain votes amongst the electorate, however few. In an election forecast to be very tight, those few votes may decide the victor. But should one be allowed to say anything they want to in order to win over people, even if their claims are false and damaging? In a moment of crisis where people are dying, the answer should be a resounding no.
Harris’s response is part of a wider campaign from the Biden administration to criticize the rampant misinformation surrounding the hurricane. “The last few weeks there’s been a reckless, irresponsible, and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people,” Biden said in a press conference. He has further continued his vocal criticism of former President Trump, saying that although he wasn’t “singularly to blame” for the rise in false claims, he was “leading the onslaught of lies” and had “the biggest mouth.” “Get a life, man,” he said when asked if he had spoken to Trump directly.
Though such misinformation, especially by a presidential candidate, is certainly a problem, this tit-for-tat blame game that Biden is participating in will only succeed in sowing further discord along party lines. In a time when unity in the wake of the crisis is key to a successful recovery, his comments aren’t exactly helpful either. There is, however, not much he can do otherwise: he can’t back down or remain silent — that would make him look weak. And so the escalating rhetoric continues.
Trump’s comments aren’t even the most outrageous. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia posted on the social media platform X that, “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.” That was followed by a post further elaborating upon her first one. “Everyone keeps asking, ‘who is they?’ Well some of them are listed on NOAA, as well as most of the ways weather can be modified… did they ask you if you agreed to our weather being modified?” The fact that these comments come from someone who has the power to actively vote on bills in Congress is appalling, and demonstrates the poor path our country is following.
Responses to Greene came swiftly. “News Flash, humans cannot create or control hurricanes. Anyone who thinks they can, needs to have their head examined,” said fellow Republican Representative Carlos Gimenez in a X post. “I think enough has already been said. I ignore her,” said Representative Don Bacon. “She thinks we have no impact on the climate but somehow control the weather,” scoffed another House Republican.
As lawmakers and others with immense power continue to squabble verbally in Washington, physical fights are breaking out in the Tampa Bay Area as residents wait in long lines at the few gas stations that are open. “They were fighting, like fist fighting,” said Jones, a security guard. “One girl hit another girl with her car, they were really fighting for gas.” It is highly unlikely that the comments from Trump or Harris had helped alleviate any of the emotion down in Florida’s flooded streets, if not adding fuel to the fire.
