Former FEMA Supervisor Says Agency Denied Huge Aid to Trump Supporters

Marn’i Washington, a former FEMA supervisor, says her recent firing for allegedly instructing her team to avoid homes displaying Trump signs during Florida’s hurricane relief efforts is not a case isolated. Washington, who was responsible for overseeing assistance to disaster survivors in Highlands County, ordered her team to avoid homes with Trump signage to avoid “hostile encounters” and “verbal abuse” her team faced , she said, was constantly facing from Trump-supporting residents. She says similar incidents of avoiding Trump-supporting households during FEMA disaster relief occurred in North and South Carolina after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

According to Washington, this approach was partially influenced by the advice of his own supervisor, Chad Hershey, who reportedly argued that houses deemed potentially dangerous should be avoided. Screenshots obtained by the Daily Wire show messages such as “Trump sign, no contact by direction” used by the Washington team to log ignored properties. Washington says its directive was part of a broader pattern of FEMA “avoidance” policy, which it claims senior leaders were aware of but denies. FEMA has reportedly taken action in response to these allegations, although the agency has yet to release further details.

Marn’i Washington, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) supervisor fired for failing to help supporters of President-elect Donald Trump, said Tuesday the event was not an “isolated” incident.

Washington, former FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance Team Leader for Highland County, ordered workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” while seeking qualified residents for hurricane relief in Lake Placid, Florida. After being fired over the incident, Washington told journalist Roland Martin that FEMA’s shunning of Trump supporters was a “colossal event” that also happened in North Carolina and South Carolina , which had been devastated after hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“They all alleged that these actions were committed on my own initiative and from my own political advances,” Washington said. “However, if you look at the facts, there is what we call a communal bias and unfortunately it turns out that the political hostility that my team faced – and I was on two different teams during my own deployment – simply this is what happened to the Trump campaign signaling FEMA always preaches avoidance first, then de-escalation, this is not an isolated case. of a colossal avoidance event, not only in the state of Florida, but also in the Carolinas.

“Senior leaders will lie to you and say they don’t know, but if you ask DSA team leaders and specialists what they’re experiencing on the ground, they’ll tell you they’re asking FEMA to provide you with these incident reports,” Washington said. continued.

Washington’s instruction prevented at least 20 homes displaying Trump signs or flags from being considered for post-hurricane aid between late October and November, according to the Daily Wire. first reported. Avoiding the homes of Trump supporters was on a supervisor’s list of “best practices,” along with safety tips to avoid dehydration and other health risks.

The former FEMA supervisor claimed her team constantly witnessed hostility and “verbal abuse” from residents who had Trump signs on their property, leading to the instruction to avoid altogether Trump supporters. Washington claimed its staff did not approach homes with Trump signs to avoid facing alleged “verbal abuse” and “hostile encounters” at the request of FEMA Supervisor Chad Hershey over Washington, who reportedly asked them to avoid homes they deemed unsafe. .

“We’re going to canvass (houses) that aren’t following the community trend with Trump campaign signage and let it go. If one of these residents comes out with the Trump campaign signage and says, “Hey, I want to register,” we’ll hug them, we’ll let you register, great, wonderful. But we were not going to subject our people to verbal abuse or hostile encounters,” Washington said.

Washington confirmed that FEMA teams also faced hostility from those who carried Harris-Walz signs or did not have campaign signage on their property, even though it did not do so. experience on this particular trip.

According to screenshots obtained by the Daily Wire. Washington reportedly gave these directives to workers in Highlands County, Florida, where nearly 70% of residents voted for Trump.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated the region in October, leaving millions without power and causing an estimated $50 billion in economic losses, according to President Joe Biden. said in a press release dated October 11.

Hershey told The Wire that the agency was “aware” of the incident and was taking immediate action.

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