What is Trump Doing for Victims of Hurricane Harvey?
By: Ariel Wodarcyk
Not much, to be honest.As reported by Politico, Donald Trump took a daylong trip to Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday, where he did not meet with any storm victims, nor get anywhere close to where Harvey is hitting. In fact, he didn’t even see any rainfall. He did, however, praise the turnout of the day’s crowd:
Donald and Melania leaving for Texas, photo via NY Daily News
Politico also reported that Trump spent only three hours on the ground in Texas, compared to eight hours of flying above the state.
The next day, he tweeted this, claiming to have witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Harvey “firsthand”:
130.7k Likes, 2,652 Comments - President Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Instagram: "After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out..."
When reporters who knew Trump had only been to Corpus Christi, an area unaffected by the storm and thus a place he could not have seen any of its effects “firsthand”, questioned White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on the validity of Trump’s claims, this is how she responded.
“He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest. And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground. That certainly is a firsthand account.
Girl...that is not a firsthand account. That is a secondhand account. A firsthand account, is, by definition, personally experiencing or seeing an event. It is not talking “extensively” about an event, receiving “detailed briefing information” about an event, or being shown pictures or videos of an event, as Trump was captured doing on his Instagram.
It is highly unusual for a president not to meet with victims in the midst of natural disaster. President Obama was seen embracing Hurricane Sandy victims back in 2012. President George W. Bush was criticized for his lack of urgency in responding to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Trump has personally pledged $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief, and is planning to request $5.95 million in emergency funds. Unfortunately, the devastation will undoubtedly require more spending; damages look to exceed $125 billion.
Update: Saturday afternoon, Trump met with victims housed at the NRG stadium. He described the victims as, "They were just happy, we saw a lot of happiness,"
