The liars tour of western North Carolina

Tim Moore and Donald Trump used a disaster area as a political prop.

Poor Tim Moore is butt-hurt that Joe Biden didn’t call him after Helene. He joined Donald Trump in Asheville on Monday, clogging traffic and disrupting relief efforts to politicize the disaster. They both used the opportunity to lie about the government response and drive a false narrative about a recovery that will be long, but that is seeing unprecedented resources coming into the state.

Moore told the press, “As the speaker of the state House, I’ve not gotten a single call from the White House.” But that’s not true. In a fit of journalism, the Charlotte Observer checked White House communications records and found that a White House staffer corresponded with Moore through email on September 30, three days after Helene hit. An email on October 4 reads, “Thanks for chatting on the phone earlier this week! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support you all. I’m available by phone or email.” Moore was also invited to join two Zoom calls to get briefings on the federal response from the White House.

When asked about it, a staffer whined that Moore had not received a personal call from either the president or vice-president. What an arrogant, self-important twit. While people throughout the mountains are struggling to get basic necessities, Moore is complaining that he isn’t getting the attention he deserves. What a petty little man.

Trump, for his part, continued to double down on his lies that FEMA is spending money on immigrants instead of people in North Carolina. He blasted the federal response saying that poor work should be criticized. Ironically, Trump was with Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, who has a page on website debunking lies that Trump spread.

Moore and Trump weren’t in western North Carolina to offer support or help. They were using the disaster area as a political prop. The whole move was a callous attempt to create a negative perception of the recovery effort. In the case of Moore, he tried to make it all about himself.

Moore is moving on from the legislature to a Congressional seat he gerrymandered for himself where opportunities for grift are much greater than in Raleigh. Trump doesn’t care any more about the victims of hurricane Helene than he does about the soldiers whose service he regularly denigrates. They see political opportunity in the suffering of people in western North Carolina. It’s callous and needs to be called out. More importantly, though, it’s a window into how they will govern, putting themselves before the people they are elected to serve.