The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) argued Sunday that criticizing the agency’s response to Hurricane Helene is “dangerous.”
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Deanne Criswell addressed public outcry over the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene, warning that the “false” narratives spread online about the agency’s handling of the hurricane could hinder FEMA’s recovery efforts.
“It has a tremendous impact on the comfort level of our own employees to be able to go out there, but it’s also demoralizing to all of the first responders… FEMA staff, volunteers,” she told host George Stephanopoulos.
Despite obstructing relief efforts, @FEMA’s Criswell says criticizing her agency is “dangerous”:
“It has a tremendous impact on the comfort level of our own employees … When you have this dangerous rhetoric like you’re hearing, it creates fear in our own employees” pic.twitter.com/ProJObu7fc
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 6, 2024
“I need to make sure I can get the resources to where they are needed, and when you have this dangerous rhetoric like you’re hearing, it creates fear in our own employees.”
Her comments faced immediate backlash online, with critics slamming the top disaster relief official for playing the victim card in a crisis of this magnitude.
“In this time of crisis, the important thing to remember is protecting the feelings of FEMA workers,” Grabien founder Tom Elliott wrote alongside a clip of Crisewell’s ABC appearance.
“The comfort level of hurricane victims matters way more to me right now than the comfort level of FEMA employees,” writer Kristen Weg commented. “FEMA chief Deanne Criswell says criticizing her agency is ‘dangerous.’ The audacity,” conservative journalist Ian Miles Cheong posted.
