Dana Bash presses Lara Trump on Trump attack on FEMA response

CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday pressed Republican National Committee co-Chair Lara Trump on former President Trump’s misleading claims about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) relief aid available to residents.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Bash asked Lara Trump whether she was concerned for her fellow North Carolinians and specifically asked about Trump’s suggestion that the Biden administration is only offering $750 to Americans in recovery money when that sum is designated for immediate relief, per family, as the first step in their recovery.

“I’m incredibly concerned in North Carolina. I hear every day from people on the ground there, and they are desperate for help. It is a dire situation there. I actually think we don’t even know the extent yet of truly how bad it is there,” the former president’s daughter-in-law said.

“And, look, Kamala Harris did come out and say it’s $750 per family right now,” Lara Trump continued before pivoting to an attack on annual spending and on failed policies at the southern border, which Lara Trump blamed on Harris.

Bash pushed back on some of Lara Trump’s remarks and said, “But my question is about the misinformation, particularly the notion that they are moving money to migrants, to, you say, undocumented migrants, which FEMA says flatly is not true,” Bash said.

“And if people are not getting correct information, then they can’t go for the, for assistance,” as they recover.

Bash then played a video of Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) saying that he was impressed with the federal response to Hurricane Helene, noting it is “a region that wasn’t likely to have experienced the impact that they did.”

“For anybody who thinks that any level of government, anybody here could have been prepared precisely for what we’re dealing with here, clearly are clueless,” Tillis said in the clip. “But right now, I’m out here to say that we’re doing a good job.”

When Bash noted that Tillis was apparently pushing back on claims that the former president and others have made, Lara Trump said, “I’m so glad to hear that he feels that way, but it’s coming directly from people there.”

“You can go online and you can look at videos of people recording themselves and posting online saying, ‘We need help. No one has come here. We have nothing,’” Lara Trump added.