North Carolina senator calls conspiracy theories around Helene federal response a ‘distraction’

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., chided some of the conspiracy theories that have surfaced surrounding the Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in western North Carolina.

“If there are any challenges, call my office,” Tillis said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We’ll track them down if there are real issues, but quite honestly, most of what I’ve seen out there is a distraction and not helping the core of the effort right here, which is to save lives and start rebuilding.”

Tillis also said that the statements being made about the recovery efforts are coming from people who are not physically on the ground.

His comments come days after North Carolina state senator Kevin Corbin penned a Facebook post asking people to stop the “conspiracy theory junk.” Tillis said that Corbin is right to call people out on the claims.

Claims about the federal response to Hurricane Helene have been coming from all over social media. One of the most prominent pushers has been Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has endorsed former President Donald Trump and made an appearance at the former president’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg denounced some of Musk’s claims on X on Friday.

When asked about Trump’s comments that the federal response to the recovery efforts in North Carolina was terrible and that emergency funding was being used on immigrants, Tillis gave a two-pronged response.

“I think that the President is right to say that billions of dollars is being spent as a result of Biden’s failed immigration policies and border policies,” Tillis said. “However, we have the resources that we need, we’re going to have to go back and pass more resources.”

He also noted that, as of this moment, immigration is “not yet” impacting “the flow of resources to western North Carolina.”

At least 215 people had been reported dead, according to NBC News. More than half of the deaths were in North Carolina.

–Rebecca Picciotto and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.