In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, many people focused on how President Trump and his administration would handle the devastation in the large city of Houston and quickly sought out things to criticize. This criticism could be seen easily on any social media site and was especially blown up on twitter with tweets comparing Trump to former presidents’ actions during other disasters.
Trump has been called countless negating and demeaning names, but many people stuck with words such as heartless, cold and emotionless regarding his visit to Texas, which occurred about four days after the hurricane hit the Houston area.
“What a crowd, what a turnout,” Trump says in his first visit to the devastated state during a speech from a firetruck. This comment and a few others from Trump about the storm and TV ratings sparked even more hatred and criticism.
In his first visit, Trump was told to avoid the hardest hit areas, as it would disrupt the relief efforts so he focused his attention in Corpus Christi and Austin. Trump met with those who had seen the terrible things done to the people of Texas from the tropical storm, but hadn’t met with any survivors yet- though his press secretary claimed he got a “first hand account” during his experience.
According to the Washington Post, this is what the White House press secretary had to say about President Trump’s visit:
“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.” In actuality, Trump experienced a second hand account.
“After witnessing first hand the horror & devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of Texas!” Trump tweeted on August 30th. On September 2nd, President Trump made another visit to Texas – this time in the center of the chaos, allowing him to meet with survivors, which in turn now gave him an actual “first hand account”.
On September 1st, Trump pledged $1 million dollars to relief efforts dealing with Hurricane Harvey. People were skeptical of when exactly he would follow through with this pledge. According to CNN, on September 6th, Trump decided on 12 different charities that would receive parts of this $1 million dollars coming out of his family’s pocket.
Hurricane Harvey has been handled quickly and thoroughly in part to Trump’s administration, though there will still be controversy around his actions during this time of need.
Some other contributions that have been made to the relief efforts include (USA Today):
- Tyler Perry- pledged $1 million
- Edie Brickell and Paul Simon- pledged $1 million
- Miley Cyrus- pledged $500,000
A number of celebrities have also pledged and/or raised considerable amounts to help the community in this time of need.
Though President Trump’s interaction with the people suffering from Hurricane Harvey isn’t as heartfelt and meaningful as former presidents, he and his administration still has been handling the behind the scene relief efforts well.
