How Hurricane Helene Has Fuelled Far-Right Conspiracies

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Obama, News, Wnyc, Washington, Barack, President, Lizza, Wickenden

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jessica Pishko, who recently published a piece about the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene, joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss conspiracy theories that have emerged in the storm’s wake. On social media, people have falsely claimed, among other things, that the federal government has diverted disaster funding to migrants and that FEMA has seized peoples land. In a battleground state such as North Carolina, where the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Mark Robinson, has been mired in scandal, what do the confusion and conspiracies mean for the upcoming Presidential election?

This week’s reading:

“Will Mark Robinson Derail Trump’s Chances in North Carolina?,” by Peter Slevin
“Outrage And Paranoia After Hurricane Helene,” by Jessica Pishko

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hurricane Milton tore across Florida last week.
0:04.0	Just a few weeks after Hurricane Helene ripped across much of the East Coast,
0:08.0	stretching all the way from Florida to the northeast.
0:11.0	But the epicenter of destruction for Helene was unexpected.
0:15.2	Asheville, North Carolina, a city more than 300 miles from the coast,
0:19.3	was devastated by mudslides and floods.
0:22.0	Officials in North Carolina say they were blinded by Helene's sheer intensity.
0:26.0	Homes swept away, restaurants and shops torn to pieces.
0:30.0	Communities cut off from clean water and electricity,
0:33.0	leaving residents nowhere to go.
0:35.0	Now, as the community attempts to rebuild,
0:40.0	the recovery process has been mired in conspiracy and this information.
0:45.0	This is ranged from Marjorie Taylor Green tweeting, quote,
0:48.0	they can control the weather,
0:50.0	to others claiming that FEMA dollars are being diverted to housing migrants.
0:54.0	But where are these conspiracies coming from and what impact might they have in November?
0:59.0	Jessica Pischko is a writer on the ground in North Carolina.
1:04.0	She joins us to discuss Helene's aftermath
1:06.4	and how swirling conspiracies about the storm
1:08.6	may affect the election.
1:10.6	You're listening to the political scene.
1:12.4	I'm Tyler Foggett, and I'm a senior editor at The New Yorker.
	...

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