On Tuesday, Fox News' Peter Doocy and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had a very contentious exchange.
Doocy asked for clarification about relief funding, which Jean-Pierre characterized as misinformation, then stormed off the podium.
Talking Points…
- Relief funding running low
- Doocy exchange with Jean-Pierre
- Analysis
To be clear, this entire narrative was started by DHS Secretary Mayorkas while discussing relief efforts for Hurricane Helene. Mayorkas had announced:
"We are expecting another hurricane hitting.
"We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent."
Then people started digging, which uncovered nearly $1 billion that had been spent on illegal immigrants through FEMA humanitarian programs. Some initial misinformation regarding the money that had come from relief funds was false. These are two different pots, so I want to be clear about that.
However, a recent Inspector General's report revealed more than $8 billion in relief funding that was never used, of which he estimated roughly $7 billion could be added to the current disaster relief fund. This would not require any new congressional approval for new funding or reallocation because the money is already in FEMA's hands for relief funding but has been sitting unused since on or before 2012.
Over the weekend, Kamala Harris pledged $157 million of assistance to be sent to Lebanon due to Israel attacking Hezbollah targets in the country. This is baffling to me because if you are allowing terrorists to operate within your borders, you should immediately lose any access to US funding. Furthermore, we have a crisis here at home that must be dealt with. Yet, Harris is sending taxpayer money to another country when we have Americans stranded in the hills of North Carolina and another hurricane barreling down on Florida.
Doocy was inquiring about all this, looking for clarification as to how Harris could send $157 million to a country harboring terrorists while the administration needs Congress to convene in order to get more relief funding (and remember, there is more than $8 billion floating around in unused funding from 2012 and before). Doocy asked about the funding issues, and Jean-Pierre took offense to the framing of the question, calling it misinformation. Then things really went off the rails…
The shot that really landed was Doocy telling Jean-Pierre:
"You can't call a question you don't like misinformation."
IMO, Doocy did nothing wrong here, and in all honesty, Jean-Pierre owes him an apology for coming after him like that. He asked for clarification on the money and its availability but nothing more. I really wish he would have come back at her regarding the $8 billion in unused funds that would not require Congress to do anything. But again, as I stated before, this is all about this administration being reactive rather than proactive. Texas Governor Greg Abbott had it right in saying, "This is Kamala's Katrina."
