A mayor in Tennessee joined other local officials Friday to denounce skepticism and rumors that have swirled around the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) response to the devastation in the southeastern U.S. from Hurricane Helene .
Mayor Glenn Jacobs (R), who serves Knox County, Tenn., signaled in a post online that the attacks on the administration could make recovery efforts more difficult.
“To my knowledge, FEMA, TEMA, nor anyone else is confiscating supplies,” Jacobs, a former professional wrestler, wrote Friday in a post on social platform X. “Please quit spreading those rumors as they are counterproductive to response efforts.”
“If everyone could maybe please put aside the hate for a bit and pitch in to help, that would be great,” he added.
The message comes days after allegations were floated that FEMA does not have enough money to provide disaster assistance, is stealing cash donations from survivors and has turned away volunteers.
It also follows skepticism from former President Trump around the Biden administration’s response to the deadly storm, when he claimed FEMA would use hurricane funds on migrants. The White House pushed back on these claims Friday, calling out the GOP for “using Hurricane Helene to lie and divide us.”