Miller-Meeks hawks Hurricane Helene conspiracies

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa joined former President Donald Trump in spreading already-debunked claims about FEMA’s recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. And it has a cost.

Lies have a way of snowballing. And at least one Iowa politician can’t resist joining in.

Eleven days after Hurricane Helene swept through the Southeastern US, thousands are still without water in western North Carolina. And the lies and conspiracy theories are everywhere. 

There is the obvious whopper that the government is controlling the weather: that the bureaucrats are literally creating hurricanes. And then there are more pernicious conspiracies that the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency is confiscating the property of people who ask for help and denying requests for body bags. 

Former President Donald Trump is claiming Democrats are “going out of their way” not to help disaster victims in Republican states—despite evidence of the Biden-Harris Administration support and the pushback from on-the-ground local officials. The landscape of lies reached such a fever pitch last week that FEMA had to devote time and resources to dispelling these rumors.

Each of these claims are being shared without evidence. But that didn’t stop US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Miller-Meeks weighed in on North Carolina over the weekend at Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Harvest Festival fundraiser. 

“Part of the problem is FEMA running out of money because they’re housing illegal immigrants with almost $1 billion,” Miller-Meeks said, according to KWQC’s Conner Hendricks.

However, that’s not true. The dollars she is referring to come from US Customs and Border Protection, not FEMA. That money goes to provide humanitarian services like food and shelter. The funds for FEMA’s disaster response comes from a completely separate fund.

Miller-Meeks’ evidence-less claim has real impacts. Emergency officials on the ground are warning that disinformation is slowing recovery efforts and reinforcing existing suspicion of state and federal officials. Groups like The American Red Cross and North Carolina Department of Public Safety are warning that it disrupts their ability to deliver critical aid.

Misinformation can spread quickly after a disaster, causing confusion and distrust within communities struggling to recover. Unfortunately, we’re seeing this during our response to Hurricane Helene.

Sharing rumors online without first vetting the source and verifying facts… pic.twitter.com/nSfvE12JBc

— American Red Cross (@RedCross) October 3, 2024

MMM’s history with conspiracy

This isn’t the first time Miller-Meeks has parroted conspiracies.

After Trump suggested without evidence that Biden would be on drugs for their June debate, Miller-Meeks doubled down, telling Fox Business, “We anticipate that for this first debate, he will be on something.”

She told The Cedar Rapids Gazette her comments “were not a medical diagnosis, but come from an informed medical background.” Miller-Meeks is an ophthalmologist, a doctor who diagnoses and treats eye conditions. She chose not to offer any evidence for her claim.

When she was caught sharing a false story on social media about veterans, she wrote in a statement, “The story and website is obviously satire and makes a powerful point.” 

In July 2021, Miller-Meeks falsely said children do not spread COVID-19. Not only is this patently untrue, she cited studies from a pediatric infectious disease specialist who told the Gazette, “I never said or wrote that children don’t transmit the virus. That is incorrect. That is absolutely false.”

In 2020, as a candidate for Congress, Miller-Meeks said “having read the research” she would take hydroxychloroquine to treat a COVID-19 infection. The drug, designed to treat malaria, has shown no benefits for COVID patients and may have worsened health outcomes. Clinical trials showed the drug led to serious heart problems in some people, did not treat COVID-19, and did not prevent infection with the virus, according to the Mayo Clinic.