Biden to visit Florida after Hurricane Milton, calls on Johnson to ‘step up’ on disaster aid

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Friday said he believes his administration is “breaking through with the truth” when it comes to misinformation surrounding the federal response to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

Though Biden also continued his vocal criticism of former President Donald Trump, who he said was “not singularly to blame” for the proliferation of false claims in recent weeks but “has the biggest mouth.”

The comments came as Biden met with Vice President Kamala Harris, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other officials at the White House to discuss the back-to-back storms that ravaged Florida, North Carolina and other parts of Southeast.

The president will travel to Florida on Sunday to visit areas impacted by Hurricane Milton, the White House announced.

Biden has called on lawmakers to return to Washington to pass certain additional disaster aid funding, though said he hasn’t yet spoken to House Speaker Mike Johnson directly on the issue.

“I’ve spoken to Republicans who want to speak with Speaker Johnson, and I think Speaker Johnson is going to get the message that he’s got to step up, particularly for small businesses,” Biden said.

Mayorkas said FEMA will be able meet immediate needs from the two storms. Funding is running low for the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program, however, Biden said in a letter to lawmakers last week.

Biden previously surveyed damage in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which left more than 230 people dead and hundreds more displaced.

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday evening. At least 16 people were killed in the storm and millions remain without power.

Biden has spoken to numerous state and local officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he said was “very cooperative.” Asked if he would meet with DeSantis on Sunday, Biden said yes so long as the governor was available.

The White House has forcefully pushed back on any false claims about the federal storm response, including how much aid victims can receive. Biden and Mayorkas said the misinformation has hampered FEMA’s ability to help people affected by the destruction and is even resulting in threats against responders on the ground.

When asked if the storm misinformation was part of a new normal for the country, Biden said it may be “for some extreme people but I don’t think it’s what the country is about.”

“We’re breaking through with it. We’re breaking through with the truth,” he said, going on to say he was “proud” of Republican mayors and other state officials pushing back that such falsehoods have to stop and that Americans are coming together to help each other.

“But what bothers me the most is that is there’s a lot of people who get caught in these crises who are basically alone,” Biden said. “You know, widowers, people in hospitals, people who are by themselves, and they don’t know, and they lose contact, and they get, and they just get scared to death, scared to death. And anyway, so I think it’s — I think those who have been spreading these lies to try to undermine the opposition are going to pay a price for it.”