FEMA administrator says agency will support ‘everybody’ after Republicans attack Harris equity remark

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday responded to Republicans criticizing Vice President Harris for a remark she made stressing equity in the administration’s response to climate change.

On Friday, Priyanka Chopra Jonas asked Harris at a Democratic National Committee event about the Biden administration’s goals as a global influencer on climate policy when it comes to poorer countries.

“It is our lowest-income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making,” Harris said. “And so we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity.”

Some Republicans have tied her remark to the federal government’s response to Hurricane Ian. On Sunday, “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan asked Criswell to respond to the attacks after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) mentioned the remark earlier in the CBS show.