Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg spoke with MSNBC host Jen Psaki on Sunday about his efforts to combat the rampant misinformation being spread online by the right regarding recovery efforts in the southeast after Hurricane Helene devastated communities from Florida to North Carolina.
Major figures in the MAGA world, from former President Donald Trump to Elon Musk, have spread wild claims online that Democrats and FEMA were intentionally preventing aid from getting to rural areas where Republicans lived. Musk posted on X late last week that his “my blood is boiling” after a helicopter pilot told him “@FEMA wouldn’t let them land to deliver critical supplies.” Musk then also engaged with Valentina Gomez, a hard-right homophobe, who baselessly claimed, “Multiple sources on the ground are confirming that there is a blockade.” “What the hell,” replied Musk to his over 200 million followers.
“Washington Postreports that rumors and conspiracy theories have already prompted unnecessary evacuations. And …