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Trump Has Been in Texas All Day and Hasn’t Offered a Shred of Empathy for the Victims of Hurricane Harvey

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‘Very Little in Terms of Empathy From This President’

President Trump has been in Texas for more than five hours and not once has he publicly offered a single ounce of empathy for the people who are suffering from Hurricane Harvey’s wrath. Not a word of condolence about the 15 people we know have lost their lives to the hurricane he so gleefully mentions is historic, not a word acknowledging the pain and suffering literally millions of people are experiencing, not a word about their struggles, not a word asking people to donate, not a word saying he will rally his billionaire buddies to help the victims.

Mediaite reports “CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny remarked that in his reaction to the historic storm so far, POTUS appears to be more focused on the emergency response, businesses and his crowds as opposed to the victims themselves.”

“One thing I am struck by here, seeing all the stories of emotion, all the stories of loss, of devastation still unfolding — we do not know the extent of the damage here — very little in terms of empathy from this president,” Zelany said on CNN (video above). “Very little in terms of emotion or talking directly to the people of Texas. He’s been talking about the businesses, talking about the response and his crowd. Certainly, this is a test, a new moment for this president. But how he’ll ultimately be judged, Brianna, as every president is in a disaster like this, is not on today, it’s on the response and the recovery and how Texas rebuilds if they get federal funds, et cetera, months, perhaps even years, from now.”

CNN’s Zeleny was far from the only person stunned by Trump’s complete lack of caring.

Former George W. Bush White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, a Republican, wasn’t shy mentioning it Tuesday afternoon, as Raw Story’s David Edwards reported.

“I was with President Bush when he went to see the devastation caused by fires in Arizona and tornados in Missouri,” Fleischer said on Fox News. “And there was something missing from what President Trump said — I hope he will say it later today — but that’s the empathy for the people who suffer.”

“That, in my opinion, should have been the first thing he should have said,” he continued. “That his heart goes out to those people in Houston who are going through this and that the government is here to help them recover from this. And then secondly, the job of the president is to thank those who are the first responders.”

EARLIER: ‘What a Turnout!’: Trump in Texas Thinks His Hurricane Harvey Visit is a Campaign Stop

There are many more who are saddened and shocked, and it wasn’t only the national news outlets that are wondering why Trump can’t bring himself to express a shred of emotional support for millions living through the devastation, and the 15 who died from it.

Reporters from the Dallas Morning News shared their report with White House poolers covering Trump.

Reporters heard no mention of the dead, dying or displaced Texans and no expression of sympathy for them,” the Dallas Morning News poolers reported. “The message was services are coming and Texans will be OK.”

And it wasn’t just Tuesday. 

Brian Klass, a London School of Economics Fellow who frequently tweets about U.S. politics, on Sunday noted Trump’s tweets on Harvey were were devoid of empathy:

Trump has literally, as far as NCRM can determine, only once acknowledged the people who are suffering – and not once mentioned those who have died from Hurricane Harvey. He’s barely tried to offer comfort or support for the victims.

ThinkProgress on Tuesday noted that “since Harvey made landfall, Trump has mentioned the victims just once.”

“I want to begin today by extending my thoughts and prayers for those affected by Hurricane Harvey and the catastrophe of flooding and all of the other difficulties that they’re currently going through in Houston, in southeast Texas,” Trump said in prepared remarks at a press conference Monday. “Now it’s looking more and more like the state of Louisiana will be also affected.” 

Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, a frequent Trump critic, predicted this:

Others on social media have certainly also noticed the president’s sheer lack of caring or concern for the people of this country who are suffering unimaginable challenges and loss:

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‘Totally Corrupt’: One Word From VP Triggers Political Firestorm

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Vice President JD Vance is facing strong criticism from legal and political experts after commenting on the FBI’s seven-hour raid Friday morning on former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office, reportedly in a search for classified documents.

“The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search John Bolton’s home was based on intelligence collected overseas by the C.I.A., according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation,” The New York Times reported. “It involved the mishandling of classified material by Bolton, the people said.”

But some critics charge the raid is retribution for Bolton’s past and present criticism of the Trump administration. Indeed, reportedly during the raid, Bolton tweeted: “Russia has not changed its goal: drag Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede territory it already holds and the remainder of Donetsk, which it has been unable to conquer. Zelensky will never do so. Meanwhile, meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress.”

READ MORE: ‘Who’s Gonna Tell Him to Leave the White House?’: George Conway’s Dire Warning on Trump

Speaking to NBC News (video below), Vice President Vance delivered remarks that suggested the wall constructed after Watergate to separate the White House — including both the president and vice president — from the U.S. Department of Justice may have been compromised, some suggested.

“We’re in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton,” Vance told NBC News’ Kristen Welker, drawing criticism.

“And so if we think that Ambassador Bolton has committed a crime, of course, eventually prosecutions will come,” he also said. “And like I said, if there’s no crime here, we’re not gonna prosecute it.”

Experts responded swiftly.

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Juliette Kayyem is a CNN senior national security analyst and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Intergovernmental Affairs.

“’We’re’ is the tell,” she wrote. “Who is ‘we’ when the Department of Justice is supposed to be free of political influence,” Kayyem asked.

“‘We’??” wrote U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY). “JD Vance (and the WH) are clearly involved in — and likely directing — the DOJ investigation of Trump nemesis John Bolton.”

READ MORE: ‘Pure Mobspeak’: Trump Slammed for Claiming No Role in Bolton Raid but ‘Could Be the One’

“Everyone is focusing on the ‘early stages’ remark, but the telling word he used was ‘we’re.’ If this were any other administration, the FBI would be acting independently of the executive branch,” noted The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Rob Tornoe.

So is the VP @JDVance part of the ‘we’ who are directing an investigation into one of his most vocal critics? Why is that not the natural and horrifying follow up question here?” asked Professor of Law Joseph Mastrosimone.

“It’s notable his response isn’t ‘The Justice Department is operating independently and I don’t have any firsthand knowledge about the investigation,'” wrote Business Insider legal correspondent Jacob Shamsian.

“The Vice President has absolutely no place in the ‘We’ who are investigating a private citizen. Totally corrupt,” declared former Biden White House official Jesse Lee.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘They Even Changed the Font’: Fox Host Blames ‘Libs’ for Controversial Cracker Barrel Logo

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘I Did Great With the Black Vote’: Trump Says He Would Deploy Armed Forces to Chicago, NYC

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In what would be an unprecedented act and an escalation of his current occupation of Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump announced that he is willing to deploy U.S. Armed Forces to cities including Chicago and New York, after sending thousands of National Guard troops and FBI, DEA, DHS, ATF, and ICE agents to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital.

The President’s remarks came shortly after the Pentagon announced it will arm the 2,000 National Guard troops currently in Washington, D.C.

Deploying the U.S. Military to a major American city in peacetime—without a national emergency, without invoking the Insurrection Act, and without a governor’s request—would risk violating the Posse Comitatus Act.

“We haven’t had to bring in the regular military, which we’re willing to do, if we have to,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, speaking about his occupation of Washington, D.C. “And after we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe also. We’re going to make our country very safe, we’re going to make our cities very, very safe.”

READ MORE: ‘Who’s Gonna Tell Him to Leave the White House?’: George Conway’s Dire Warning on Trump

“Chicago’s a mess,” Trump charged. “You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”

“And the people in Chicago,” Trump claimed without offering evidence, “are screaming for us to come. They’re wearing red hats, just like this one. But they’re wearing red hats.”

“African American ladies, beautiful ladies, are saying, ‘Please, please, President Trump, come to Chicago. Please.'”

“I did great with the Black vote, as you know, and they want something to happen.”

Trump won just 15% of Black voters in 2024. 83% voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“So I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”

Critics blasted the President’s remarks.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wrote: “Things People are Begging for: 1. Cheaper groceries 2. No Medicaid and SNAP cuts 3. Release of the Epstein Files.”

READ MORE: ‘Pure Mobspeak’: Trump Slammed for Claiming No Role in Bolton Raid but ‘Could Be the One’

“Things People are NOT begging for: 1. An authoritarian power grab of major cities.”

Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton added: “If Trump wants to take his ego trip on tour, he picked the wrong city. Chicago doesn’t bow down to kings or roll out the red carpet for dictators. As a Black woman from the South Side, I can assure you @realdonaldtrump, your political circus isn’t welcome here.”

“Chicago isn’t going to sit down for this s—,” commented attorney Seth Abramson. “It’s illegal, it’s un-American, and it comes very close to declaring a war on America.”

“He said it. Chicago is next,” wrote former journalist Kat Abughazaleh. “This is an authoritarian order being pushed by a racist wannabe-dictator to terrorize one of America’s bluest and most diverse cities.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘They Even Changed the Font’: Fox Host Blames ‘Libs’ for Controversial Cracker Barrel Logo

 

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‘Who’s Gonna Tell Him to Leave the White House?’: George Conway’s Dire Warning on Trump

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George Conway, the prominent conservative attorney and “Never Trump” Republican turned independent, sounded a dire warning hours before President Donald Trump overnight threatened a “complete and total” occupation of Washington, D.C.

The President has already executed a takeover of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, and has deployed thousands of National Guard troops and FBI, ATF, DEA, DHS, and ICE agents to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital, despite massive opposition from the city’s residents. Trump declared a “crime emergency” on August 11, when, according to experts, there was none.

In his overnight statement, Trump threatened D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, declaring she “must immediately stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures, or bad things will happen, including a complete and total Federal takeover of the City!”

READ MORE: ‘Pure Mobspeak’: Trump Slammed for Claiming No Role in Bolton Raid but ‘Could Be the One’

Speaking to MeidasTouch News in video published on Thursday (excerpt below), Conway warned that President Trump might never leave the White House if he has complete control of the city’s police force and National Guard.

“If Donald Trump gets control of policing in the capital to the extent that he seems to desire, which is he wants complete control, because that’s just the way he is, he wants complete control of anything he deems important to him,” Conway began.

“Think about the consequences of that, because what would have happened if he had had that kind of control on January 6, when he didn’t call out the National Guard to defend the Capitol?” Conway posited. “What if he actually did have control of the Metropolitan Police and the National Guard in a way in the way that he wants?”

When asked, “What would have happened on January 20th?” Conway replied that Trump “would have remained in office because there would not have been the election of Joe Biden on January 6th, and he would have declared an emergency.”

“And, lo and behold, what do you do when you have an emergency? You call in the National Guard,” Conway continued. “He would have never left.

READ MORE: ‘They Even Changed the Font’: Fox Host Blames ‘Libs’ for Controversial Cracker Barrel Logo

“Some people were saying that what they’re doing in D.C. is going to be a model for other cities. But I think they’re just cutting straight to the chase, because if you want to have a coup against the constitutional order, you want to control the capital city, and if he has control of the policing in the city of Washington, you know, there’s no —how do you stop him?”

“Who’s gonna tell him to leave the White House?”

Others appear to have arrived at the same conclusion.

Journalist Wajahat Ali separately on Friday afternoon warned: “Donald Trump isn’t going to leave willingly or peacefully. Republicans are gearing up for martial law. You all aren’t paying attention.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Gonna Do a Job’: Trump Announces ‘Secret’ Plan to Join D.C. Police on Patrol

 

Image via Reuters 

 

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