Sean Hannity defends his debunked commentary about FEMA's response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Fox News obtained a House GOP memo debunking hurricane relief lies

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

On the evening of October 8, Fox reporter Chad Pergram posted that Fox had obtained a fact sheet authored by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee which debunked narratives that had been pushed by Fox and Republicans about Federal Emergency Management Agency funding:

Fox has obtained a fact sheet assembled by the majority side of House Appropriations Committee about disaster aid.

It says that FEMA “has enough funding in the short-term to address immediate needs for both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.”

It also declares there is “no funding connection between” the migrant shelter program and the Disaster Relief Fund. It adds there is “no intermingling of funding between these two programs.” It adds that “the only connection is that both programs are administered by FEMA.”

Sean Hannity had been among the MAGA figures pushing the false claim about Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Mediaite reported:

Fox News host Sean Hannity’s claim that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was “running out of money” and diverting disaster relief resources to migrant sheltering projects was undermined by a Fox News reporter, who obtained a GOP “fact-sheet” that explained how funding for the programs, both administered by FEMA, was separated.

On his October 9 radio show, Hannity responded, refusing to correct the record and directing his audience to his social media posts. The “Shelter and Services program” he refers to in social media posts is distinct from money used for FEMA's response to natural disasters.

Meanwhile, this campaign of MAGA lies about FEMA's response to hurricanes appears to be fueling anti-government fervor and hatred and even calls for violence against FEMA workers.

Sean Hannity defends spreading hurricane misinformation: “We have told the truth”

still image of Sean Hannity

From the October 9, 2024, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Now, Vice President Harris' campaign is -- this was on Mediaite. They took a shot at me today. I decided to respond back on X. I'm just tired when people distort things. We have told the truth about the worst hurricane response in history. We have gotten our information directly from FEMA. We have taken the words of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and put it in its full context.



And now that they're saying, oh, we found other monies — has nothing to do with the fact that they've been missing in action and but for neighbor helping neighbor and charitable organizations like the one we had on yesterday and samaritanspurse.org and many, many others, these people would be dead out of luck.