Samantha Power, the Biden-Harris administration’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator, posted a tone-deaf video on Friday explaining “how Americans are helping Ukraine keep the lights and heat on” — as nearly 700,000 American homes and businesses suffer from power outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
“I’m here in an energy substation in the western region of Ukraine. This substation provides enough power for around 500,000 residents of this area,” Power says in the video. “I’m standing in front of an auto transformer that used to provide power, but that Putin’s forces destroyed back in 2022.”
She adds:
As we head into winter, knowing that Putin is intent on attacking critical infrastructure, USAID is doubling our investments in replacing auto transformers that have been damaged or destroyed, and in providing protection to the energy infrastructure that remains. Thanks to the support of the American people, USAID is working with Ukrainians to keep the lights on and the heat going this winter.
According to NBC News, nearly 700,000 homes and businesses back in the United States have no power.
More than 260,000 customers in South Carolina and over 215,000 in North Carolina are without power, according to the network.
In Georgia, more than 190,000 customers are out of power, and more than 10,000 in Virginia.
Power’s post did not go over so well with Americans affected by the hurricane — the deadliest since Hurricane Katrina.
Photographer and artist Anna Hitrova from Asheville, North Carolina, one of the hardest-hit towns, told Breitbart News she had been out of power for nine days when she saw Power’s post.
“I am watching this video in a house without power. The sun has just set. So you are making sure the lights stay on in Ukraine while thousands of Americans are currently still sitting in the dark,” Hitrova posted on X.
She said that mountain communities will be out of power far longer than East Asheville, where she lives.
Dozens of others, including Richard Grenell, acting director of national intelligence under former President Donald Trump, slammed Power’s post.
Grenell posted, “Some Americans still don’t have power from Helene. Some Americans have lost everything. More than 200 Americans dead and thousands devastated. Infrastructure in Asheville, North Carolina is wiped out. Total devastation in parts of America.”
“Meanwhile, Samantha Power is doing videos in Ukraine proudly giving away tens of millions of US tax dollars. Tone. Deaf,” he posted.
Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X”, Truth Social, or on Facebook.
