Dear MoveOn member,
As Hurricanes Helene and Milton ravaged the Southeast over the past month, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans spread rampant disinformation about the federal government’s response—which slowed disaster relief and led to death threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff and even meteorologists.1
As unconscionable as it is, politicizing disaster relief, including when lives hang in the balance, is not new for Trump. As president, he cut $155 million from FEMA.2 $155 million! And multiple high-level officials who served in his administration say he also deliberately denied disaster relief funds to states that did not vote for him.3
As early voting gets underway and the Southeast states recover from the devastating hurricanes, MoveOn is putting up billboards in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina—critical battleground states—spotlighting Trump’s decision to cut $155 million from disaster relief funds during his presidency. The billboards serve as a stark reminder of Trump’s priorities and the way his policies harm communities. We’re putting them up in places with the highest concentration of left-leaning “surge voters”—largely young people and people in other marginalized groups who do not consistently vote. These are the very same voters we’re focused on turning out through our data-driven, large-scale get-out-the-vote program.
The billboards launched this week in Raleigh, Charlotte, Savannah, and West Palm Beach and will run through Election Day. But if we raise the money, we can put the billboard up in other highly strategic locations in the battleground states. Will you start a weekly donation through Election Day to help us get the truth to more voters as millions cast their votes?
Former Trump administration officials have come forward to share that, when he was in the White House, Trump severely restricted emergency relief to Puerto Rico in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017, initially refused to release federal disaster aid for wildfires in California in 2018, and withheld wildfire assistance for Washington state in 2020, because voters in those places didn’t vote for him in sufficient numbers.4
Kevin Carroll, former senior counselor to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly during Trump’s term, told The Guardian, “It was clear that Trump was entirely self-interested and vengeful towards those he perceived didn’t vote for him. He even wanted to pull the navy out of Hawaii because they didn’t vote for him. We were appalled – these are American civilians the government is meant to provide for. The idea of withholding aid is antithetical to everything you want from a leader.”5
Trump approved disaster aid to California in the wake of the devastating wildfires in 2018 only after his aides provided him data showing that Orange County, which was hard hit by the wildfires, has large numbers of Republican voters, according to Olivia Troye, a former Homeland Security adviser during the Trump administration.6
Left-leaning infrequent voters in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina deserve to know the truth about Trump’s record slashing FEMA funds and denying disaster relief to communities in dire need. Will you start a weekly donation through Election Day to help us put up more of these billboards in areas with high concentrations of these surge voters?
We’re down to the wire in the closest presidential race in modern history.
Everything we do in the next 10 days matters. MoveOn is reaching out to left-leaning infrequent voters in battleground states personally through their friends and family as well as via text, phone, ads, social media influencers, and now billboards.
We’re in this together through Election Day—and after, regardless of the outcome. But right now, please join us in doing everything we can through Election Day to elect Vice President Harris, send Trump to the dustbin of history, and deal a major blow to MAGA.
Thanks for all you do.
–Toni, Cheryl, Chris, Aliya, and the rest of the team
P.S. Don’t miss out on the fun! MoveOn members are connecting with voters in battleground states daily, asking them to remind their friends and family to vote, which is proven to increase turnout by 8.3%! RSVP for a few election phone banks now so we can celebrate together after November 5 when we elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!
P.P.S. Here’s the billboard:
Sources:
1. “‘Vengeful’ Trump withheld disaster aid and will do so again, ex-officials warn,” The Guardian, October 13, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/13/trump-disaster-funding-warning
2. “Trump falsely claims Biden used FEMA funds for migrants — something Trump did himself,” ABC News, October 7, 2024
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-falsely-claims-biden-fema-funds-migrants-trump/story?id=114577647
3. “‘Vengeful’ Trump withheld disaster aid and will do so again, ex-officials warn,” The Guardian, October 13, 2024
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/13/trump-disaster-funding-warning
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
Want to support MoveOn? The MAGA right is declaring war, and Project 2025 is their battle plan. Project 2025 threatens our rights, attacks communities of color, hurts middle- and working-class families, and undermines our democracy. But we will not back down or let Trump steamroll our nation.
Will you start a monthly donation to power and sustain MoveOn’s election plan, stop Trump, and ensure Project 2025 is never enacted?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. MoveOn.org Civic Action – PO Box 96141, Washington, D.C. 20090-6141.