Political consultant James Carville has issued a stark warning to Democrats, emphasizing the need to reclaim the narrative surrounding the devastation wrought by Hurricane Milton.
Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday evening along Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm, bringing fierce winds, a dangerous storm surge, and the looming risk of widespread flooding across large areas of the state.
Carville has warned the Democrats risk losing the narrative around Hurricane Milton amid an onslaught of misinformation being spread by Republicans.
Carville said, “I want to sound what I fear may be a serious alarm. Hurricane Milton, on top of Helene, has created one of the worst national disasters in our history.
People visit the beach as storm clouds pass overhead before Hurricane Milton’s arrival on October 08, 2024 in Fort Myers, Florida. Kamala Harris risks losing the narrative in the face of lies generated by Donald Trump, says James Carville.
Joe Raedle/Getty
He accused former President Donald Trump of spreading misinformation and rallying fellow Republicans to echo his narrative of failure regarding the Biden-Harris administration’s response to the crisis.
“Trump, with his lies and whipping other Republicans to echo his demagoguery about what a failure this is, I worry may be winning the narrative.
“Kamala Harris doesn’t need to get into a pissing contest with Ron DeSantis.
“They need someone to refute the lies from the Trump campaign.”
If they lose this narrative, I think there will be deep trouble on November 5th.
The storm unleashed a hazardous storm surge in densely populated regions along Florida’s Gulf Coast, impacting cities such as Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Fort Myers.
According to PowerOutages.us, over 2 million customers lost power as the hurricane swept through central Florida late Wednesday. Authorities have reported fatalities at the Spanish Lakes Country Club near Fort Pierce.
The hurricanes have sparked a flurry of misinformation spreading on social media, including claims that FEMA has diverted part of its budget to migrants and could be about to run out of money, which the federal agency has dismissed as “false.”
Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott raised issues with $640 million of FEMA funding allocated for assisting migrants after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas‘ said that FEMA did not have enough funding to make it through another hurricane this season.
“This is easy,” Abbot posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Mayorkas and FEMA should immediately stop spending money on illegal immigration resettlement and redirect those funds to areas hit by the hurricane. Put Americans first.”
Democrats have pointed out that the two funds are entirely separate and no money has been diverted.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responded: “FEMA has enough money right now for immediate response and recovery needs. If you were affected by Helene, do not hesitate to apply for disaster assistance, as there is a variety of help available for different needs.”
Bill Read, former director of the National Hurricane Center told Newsweek: “As Milton intensified and moved east, decision makers working with the NWS Forecast Offices in Florida issued timely evacuation orders and other safety of life information well before landfall.
“Viewing from afar, it appeared that the evacuation orders were followed by many and were successfully executed.
“We won’t know how bad the impacts were until the storm clears and we get daylight Thursday. My only surprise was the magnitude of the tornado outbreak across South Florida. My prayers are for no fatalities, as that is the primary goal of the warning system.
