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Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 2:11 PM UTC

Romney “right on the button” to dismantle FEMA, says GOP strategist

As Sandy battered the Eastern Seabord, Ron Bonjean decried federal disaster relief VIDEO

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Topics: frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, Election 2012, FEMA, GOP, Ron Bonjean, CNN, Republican Party, Natural Disasters, ,

Romney Ron Bonjean on CNN (YouTube Still)

While Hurricane Sandy ripped up the East Coast, Mitt Romney’s past comments about dismantling FEMA came back to haunt him. His campaign was quick to stress Monday — as floodwaters rose and millions lost power — that the presidential hopeful would not abolish federal disaster relief, but would simply encourage state-led emergency management.

But GOP strategist Jon Bonjean stuck by Romney’s previous guns during a CNN interview. The Washington mainstay said Romney was “right on the button” when it came to dismantling FEMA. And despite the fact that FEMA teams Monday provided emergency power generators and helped secure key power grids, alongside other emergency relief work, Bonjean seemed oblivious of the agency’s on-the-ground work: “I don’t think anybody cares about that [FEMA] right now. I think people care about whether or not their power’s on, whether or not their basement’s going to be flooded,” he said.

Watch the interview clip below [h/t Think Progress]:

 

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com. More Natasha Lennard.

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