Joe Biden announced a $1 billion humanitarian aid package for Africa, as Americans in southeast United States continue to grapple with the devastation caused by recent hurricanes. The aid, which was unveiled during Biden’s trip to Angola, is intended to address ongoing crises in Sub-Saharan Africa, including drought-induced food insecurity and the displacement of millions of people due to El Niño weather patterns. However, many GOP lawmakers argue that the priority should be helping American citizens who are still recovering from natural disasters on domestic soil.
However, the timing of the announcement—coming just months after catastrophic Hurricanes Milton and Helene—has drawn sharp criticism from several Republican lawmakers, who contend that the federal government should prioritize Americans struggling with the aftermath of these disasters instead of spending tax dollars overseas.
“The Biden administration continues to put America last on the world stage,” said Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. “The American people are sick and tired of having their tax dollars sent overseas when we have disasters to clean up at home.” Tuberville, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies, added, “This is why President Trump won in a landslide on November 5th. I look forward to President Trump putting America FIRST again in January.”
Senator Mike Lee of Utah, another vocal critic of the Biden administration, remarked in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation, “President Biden is spending his last days in office putting America behind the rest of the world. Americans are still suffering from recent natural disasters, FEMA employees were proven to have discriminated against families because of their politics, and President Biden celebrates sending a billion dollars overseas—business as usual for his administration. January 20th can’t come soon enough.”
Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott also condemned the president’s overseas spending priorities. “Is Biden serious? Families in Florida and across our nation are waiting for disaster relief after their livelihoods were destroyed from hurricanes, but Biden flees to Africa and hands out tax dollars like candy,” Scott wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “We need President Trump and his America first priorities in office ASAP.”
The criticism comes as CBS Evening News reported on the ongoing struggles of hundreds of Americans in western North Carolina, who are still living in temporary shelters and RVs as the cold winter months approach. These families are still reeling from the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, which struck the region this autumn, leaving many without homes and in desperate need of government assistance.
The Biden administration has already faced scrutiny over its handling of disaster relief efforts. Earlier in November, reports surfaced that FEMA had mishandled assistance requests from hurricane survivors, with a supervisor instructing staff to avoid homes that displayed support for then-President Trump during damage assessments.
Adding to the growing frustration, the Biden administration has been accused of prioritizing illegal immigrants over American citizens. Despite claiming that FEMA funds were stretched to their limits in the wake of the hurricanes, with the agency offering a paltry $750 to families devastated by the storms, the administration has spent billions in assistance to illegal aliens. Reports surfaced that FEMA funds were being used to cover housing, food, and other basic necessities for illegal immigrants crossing the southern border, while American hurricane victims were left to scrape by with minimal federal aid.
Thos African countries are governed by fellow travelers that SloJoe (Obama) wants to prop up while he can.
While thumbing his nose at the hurricane and flood victims, who were predominantly Trump voters.
Free speech, folks.