Which Administration Would Respond to Disasters Better?

As two highly destructive storms hit the Southeast, voices on the right and left debated whether Trump or Harris would be less competent at leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through natural disaster responses. Do the arguments hold up?

From the Right: Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-O.H.) wrote an op-ed in Wall Street Journal Opinion (Lean Right bias) criticizing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for "incompetence" after Hurricane Helene. Vance pointed out that both were away from the White House as Helene made landfall, and said Biden waited too long before deploying military personnel six days later. He also cast FEMA activities around unauthorized immigrants and LGBTQ communities as evidence that "the attention and focus of Biden-Harris officials" are misplaced. Vance concluded, "This wasn’t the response that the people of Western North Carolina deserved... it’s time the Biden-Harris administration got its act together."

From the Left: Ali Velshi (not rated) of MSNBC (Left bias) defended Biden's response to Helene and argued that "rumors, misinformation and conspiracy theories about FEMA’s activities" burdened an agency meant to focus "all of their energy on disaster response and recovery." Velshi focused instead on Project 2025, "the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for the next conservative administration," which advocates for scaling back federal disaster preparedness functions and moving more recovery costs to state and local funds. He concluded, "Project 2025’s proposals would force our heads in the sand. It would put the most vulnerable communities at greater risk with less information and would leave us with less help on the other side of catastrophe."