With the outbreak of Hurricane Milton over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, Florida’s west coast has been tantalized with devastating losses where an approximation of 3.5 million businesses and homes have been swept up in the collateral damage.
This category 3 storm as well as Hurricane Helene, a category 4 storm which made landfall over Florida on Sept. 26, have played a role in campaigning for the 2024 presidential election that is upon us. Bipartisan politics have struck again, another conundrum erupting between republicans and democrats, that’s even stirring up strife and division within the Republican Party.
Both hurricanes caught the attention of Donald Trump, far-right radio host Alex Jones, as well as other republican conspiracy theorists, as they churned out baseless claims that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) supposedly ran out of funds to aid victims of both hurricanes due to spending on illegal immigrants.
Moreover, these rumors are another reiteration meant to slam the Biden Administration and its policies regarding immigration and the illegal immigrants crossing our borders, using falsehoods regarding both hurricanes and FEMA as a backboard for such rhetoric.
Democrats and a number of republicans are slashing these rumors, denying the very premise that the government is behind these hurricanes or any potential cut off of FEMA spending on the victims.
President Biden, soon after these rumors made waves online, addressed these rumors for what they are: “a reckless and irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation.”
Division is ensuing within the Republican Party as well, with many republicans urging their fellow party members to end the rampant falsehoods and conspiracies, ultimately dividing the party into two camps amidst the hurricane conspiracies.
While republicans were the catalysts for this current discourse, one mustn’t forget that the root of the issue is not republican or democratic rhetoric, it’s bipartisan politics as a whole.
Bipartisan politics (the opposing political ideologies in our two party system) leads to partisan thinking, where defending one’s party and ideologies holds more importance over any sliver of logic or nuance in American political discourse.
The conspiracies of both hurricanes Milton and Helene are the most recent example of such, and to you, dear reader, I urge you to not shed too much attention on the actual weeds of the discourse and slander, but to remain an independent and neutral thinker amidst our narrow minded bipartisan political culture as we approach Election Day on Nov. 5.
The fate of nonpartisan thinking and an elevated understanding of American political culture depends on it.
