US Secretary of Transportation pete buttigieg On Friday, he publicly confronted Elon Musk and refuted false claims made by the tech billionaire about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helen. Musk has more than 200 million followers on his platform X. Twitter), accused federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, of obstructing the delivery of relief supplies and interfering with commercial relief flights to storm-ravaged areas. north carolina.
Musk shared a screenshot of a text exchange with a SpaceX engineer in which he claims the FAA is “restricting” airspace and preventing helicopters from delivering Starlink internet terminals. Musk called the government’s actions “belligerent government incompetence” and sparked a wave of misinformation on social media.
At 2:30 p.m. EDT, Buttigieg responded directly to Musk on X, debunking the claim. “No one is closing airspace and the FAA is not blocking legitimate rescue and recovery flights,” Buttigieg tweeted. “If you have any problems, please call me.”
Mr. Musk’s false accusation is especially true of the former president. donald trump He reposted them on his Truth Social platform. Despite these falsehoods, FEMA and local officials quickly issued clarifications.
FEMA creates dedicated “Rumor Response” page We are addressing the spread of misinformation by pointing out that claims that FEMA has seized supplies, confiscated property, or depleted disaster relief funds are completely false. “FEMA currently has sufficient funding to meet immediate response and recovery needs,” the agency said. “No funds will be diverted to disaster response needs.”
By 4:29 p.m. EDT, Mr. Musk acknowledged that he had spoken to Mr. Buttigieg privately, posting: I hope you can resolve this issue soon. ” However, Musk did not delete or correct his previous false claims and continued to spread them online.
republican party including the leader georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also joined in the push to correct the record. Kemp, a state hit by Hurricane Helen, disputed claims by Trump and other Republicans that aid is being withheld from Republican-leaning areas. Kemp acknowledged that the federal government is working with state officials to provide the necessary resources and that the recovery effort is proceeding without political bias.
Despite this, Trump and some Republicans continue to spread misinformation and use disinformation about disaster relief to heighten political tensions in the lead-up to the 2024 election. More than 200 people have died in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen, with dozens still missing, and that number is expected to rise.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
