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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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Judge Rebukes Trump Admin for Defying SNAP Payment Deadline

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November 6, 2025

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A federal judge chastised the Trump administration for defying his order issued last week to fully distribute SNAP payments by Monday, or at least partially by Wednesday. The administration had said it would release 65 percent of the funds but offered no timeline for doing so.

Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island sharply rebuked the Trump administration “for what he said was defying his order to make full SNAP payments by Nov. 5,” Politico’s Kyle Cheney reported on Thursday. “He has ordered USDA to make the *full* payment to states by tomorrow.”

“It’s likely that SNAP recipients are hungry as we sit here,” McConnell said, according to Cheney.

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The judge alleged that “Trump and his allies have admitted to withholding SNAP benefits for ‘political reasons’ rather than to preserve child nutrition programs, which the judge said was a pretext,” Cheney also reported.

Judge McConnell cited a Truth Social post President Trump made in which he vowed to hold up the SNAP funds. The President wrote that food stamp benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

The White House later walked back the President’s remarks, claiming he was referring to any future shutdowns.

The judge “said Trump’s Truth Social post was essentially an admission of his ‘intent to defy the court order,'” according to Cheney.

“The defendants failed to consider the practical consequences associated with this decision to only partially fund SNAP,” McConnell said, according to the Associated Press. “They knew that there would be a long delay in paying partial Snap payments and failed to consider the harms individual who rely on those benefits would suffer.”

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‘Make Lots of Trump Babies’: Dr. Oz Highlights Midterm Goals

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17 hours ago

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November 6, 2025

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Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, shared a few of his goals for next year’s midterms with reporters.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Oz promoted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform.

“We’ve dropped the [price of] infertility drugs to make lots of Trump babies — I’m hoping by the midterms,” he told reporters, as HuffPost reported.

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Praising President Donald Trump’s plan to lower prices on popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs, Oz said, “America will have to get fit in order to rightsize the health care system.”

Dr. Oz has talked about making “Trump babies” before.

“Now I know what you’re all thinking, and you’re probably right, that there are going to be a lot of Trump babies,” Oz said in October at a White House event focused on making in vitro drugs more accessible. “I think that’s probably a good thing.”

“But it turns out the fundamental, creative force in society is about making babies,” he continued. “It’s about creating. And this country, the one that President Trump is leading so beautifully has been a country of abundance, not scarcity.”

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‘Clown Show’: House Dem Leader Slams ‘Divorced From Reality’ Senate GOP Head

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18 hours ago

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November 6, 2025

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As the federal government shutdown enters its 38th day with no end in sight, the Speaker of the House and the House Democratic Minority Leader appear united — on one aspect only: blaming the Senate.

Amid reports that a few Senate Democrats might agree to vote to reopen the government if Republicans guarantee a date-certain vote on restoring the Affordable Care Act subsidies, Speaker Mike Johnson appeared to attempt to scuttle that potential bargain on Thursday.

Asked if he would assure that the House would vote on restoring the Obamacare subsidy funding, which would be the basis of a Senate deal, Johnson refused.

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“No, because we did our job, and I’m not part of the negotiation,” the Speaker told reporters on Thursday. “The House did its job on September 19th” when it passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through November 21. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has effectively declared that legislation is dead, unless he can change the end date.

“I’m not promising anybody anything,” Johnson continued. “I’m gonna let this process play out.”

Over on the Democratic side of the aisle, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the Senate Majority Leader.

“Not a partisan thing, a patriotic thing: We have to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis,” Jeffries declared.

“And John Thune is divorced from reality,” he charged.

“I mean, it’s a clown show over in the Senate,” Jeffries continued.

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Interrupts Speaker Johnson — Accuses Him of ‘Lies’ 

“Fourteen, fifteen times, you bring the same partisan Republican spending bill?” he said, referring to the House-passed continuing resolution that Leader Thune has been putting before the Senate several times a week.

“Expecting a different result? That’s the classic definition of legislative insanity. Doing the same thing, over and over and over again,” he said while blasting Thune, saying he “has no ability to actually negotiate in good faith.”

Weeks ago, Jeffries told MSNBC, “what I’m saying is that we need an ironclad path forward that decisively addresses the Republican healthcare crisis.”

“In terms of the Affordable Care Act, you know, this is a group of people, Republicans, who have tried to repeal the Affordable Care more than 70 different times since 2010. They can’t be trusted on a wing and a prayer. We need a real path forward to address the crisis that Republicans have visited upon the American people in terms of healthcare, the cost of living, and affordability.”

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