Misinformation around Hurricane Helene sparks problems for N.C. Republicans

NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Misinformation around Hurricane Helene is causing trouble for North Carolina Republicans.

Queen City News’ reporting partner The Hill writes that one Western North Carolina congressman was forced to combat rumors spread by the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump.

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell says those rumors, including a falsehood about storm relief money going to migrants shared by Trump, led to a barrage of calls into the district office of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC 11). Edwards’ district encompasses nearly all of Western North Carolina.

Schnell told Queen City News that “…as these elected leaders try to help their constituents and help their districts recover from the hurricanes, they’re also having to deal with this rampant spread of misinformation.”

Schnell says during an interview with Edwards, she asked about Trump’s sharing of misinformation three separate times. Edwards, though, would not directly criticize the former president. Instead, he placed blame on who he calls “storytellers” who are more worried about clicks than facts.

Edwards told Schnell there have been lies spread about FEMA’s response but that it doesn’t negate the fact the feds can do more to help those who were impacted by the storms.

“He said he hasn’t been paying attention to what’s been said in the media because he’s been so focused on recovery efforts. And then he, he tore into, at one point, FEMA and the response from FEMA, he criticized them a little bit,” added Schnell.

During the interview, Edwards made it clear the number of calls about different rumors has died down. He contributed that to a letter he sent his constituents that detailed what federal officials were actually doing in terms of recovery efforts.

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