Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is facing a huge social media firestorm after posting on X that millions of dollars of federal aid are being sent to Lebanon while residents of North Carolina struggle to recover from Hurricane Helene. The Vice President is boasting that the government is sending $157 million in aid to the Hezbollah terrorist-controlled country because, she argued, it is "facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation." She added that the money would go to "essential needs," including "food, shelter, water, protection, and sanitation to help those who have been displaced by the recent conflict."
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reported today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "will need additional funds" after dealing with the devastation left following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. FEMA said earlier this week that it had less than 10% of its front-line staff available as preparations for Milton began.
J.C. Church is founder and lead pastor of Victory in Truth Ministries in Bucyrus, Ohio, and part of a coalition of pastors dedicated to the nation of Israel. "This current administration as it relates to humanitarian aid in this crisis with these hurricanes, compared to the money that we're giving to Lebanon and the Islamic movements – it's shameful, it's disgusting, it's cowardly," the pastor tells AFN.
"If this is not the wake-up moment in this next 25 to 30 days, I don't know what is," he continues. "The line has been drawn. We certainly can see there's the side that's going to be for freedom and for our Constitution and all of our rights, and the side that wants to take that away. It's shameful [and] embarrassing what the current administration is doing."
In like manner, a Lebanese-born national security analyst describes the funding plan as "appalling."
"This is despicable. This is appalling. This is a betrayal on the highest level," says Brigitte Gabriel, chair of ACT for America. "The people in Lebanon are never going to see this money. It's only the corrupt leaders who are going to get the money, and they're going to be a little bit richer because of it."
In Gabriel's opinion, this is all about buying votes.
"They want to keep the Muslims in America and the Arab bloc happy," she argues. "This is exactly why Kamala Harris sent [$157 million] to Lebanon. They are basically purchasing votes for [her] in the Arabic community in the United States because they need those people."
But Harris, she says, didn't need to send money to Lebanon to influence that voting bloc. "Because what are they going to do? Like the Arab Muslim community is going to vote for Trump? I mean, they have no place else."
But Gabriel says the American people have a chance this November to "throw out" the Democratic leadership and "elect a president and leaders who put America … and the American people first before any other people in the world."
10/14/2024 -- More comments from Brigitte Gabriel added.
