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On a dusty, warm day last October, nearly a month after Hurricane Helene tore across the southeastern United States, Donald Trump stood behind a podium in Swannanoa, North Carolina, to pledge funding and support to survivors of the disaster.

“In the wake of this horrible storm, many Americans in this region felt helpless and abandoned, and left behind by their government,” Trump, still a presidential candidate at the time, said. “And yet in North Carolina’s hour of desperation, the American people answer the call much more so than your federal government.”

Trump was present to, among other things, deliver an update on a GoFundMe set up by his presidential campaign for those impacted by Helene. In

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