"This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together," the editorial boards wrote.

According to the editorial board, "the worst examples" of this is a Truth Social post this week in which Trump claimed that the federal government and Democratic state officials were "going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas" in the aftermath of Helene.

However, there does not appear to be any credible evidence to support Trump's claim, with Republican governors in affected states having instead thanked the government for a prompt disaster response.