MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell tore into President Donald Trump over the deadly Texas floods that have claimed more than 100 lives and counting, telling viewers Trump “doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
The tragic flash floods in Texas over the 4th of July weekend have claimed at least 118 lives, and drawn criticism of the Trump administration over cuts to weather-related agencies and Trump’s own ongoing desire to scale back or eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The White House has pushed back on the criticisms, and reporting indicates it’s too early to tell what direct impact Trump’s policies may have had on the disaster, if any.
On Monday night’s edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word, O’Donnell blasted Trump for his stance on FEMA, just the jumping-off point for a marathon commentary with the theme that Trump “doesn’t know what he’s doing” about everything:
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Well, Donald Trump proved once again today beyond a reasonable doubt that he does not know what he is doing.
Donald Trump proved that in more than one way today, including his response to a question in the aftermath, the tragic aftermath of the horrible flooding in Texas where the death count is now at 118 with the possibility of going higher (170 are still missing). 28 of the victims were children sleeping at a summer camp on the banks of the river.
After declaring a federal disaster area in the flood zone in Texas, which then activates a full response by FEMA, the federal emergency management agency, Donald Trump was asked, “Are you still planning to phase out FEMA?” to which Donald Trump said, “Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they’re busy working, so we’ll leave it at that.”
Right now, they’re busy working? how could they possibly be busy working if, as Donald Trump and Elon Musk believed back when they were pretending to be friends, that FEMA is a complete waste of money and should be disbanded? Only someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing could say, “Let’s get rid of FEMA.”
There’s a reason no other president has ever suggested that because every other president always knew that FEMA was busy working somewhere because FEMA’s work goes on long after the disaster is in the news. And that work always overlaps with new FEMA jobs that come along when other very predictable disasters take place like hurricanes during hurricane season or horrible massive flooding in a place in Texas known as Flash Flood Alley.
That’s the area where that deadly flood occurred. It is predictable that horrible flooding will occur in such a place, and it is a long-established government function to create as strong an early warning system as possible for predictable disasters like hurricanes and blizzards and floods and fire in dry high wind areas.
Earthquakes are completely unpredictable. So, you never know when FEMA is going to be rushed to the site of a deadly earthquake. But Donald Trump wanted to get rid of FEMA and now refuses to say if he wants to get rid of FEMA because now, they’re busy working.
Those are the words of someone who does not know what he’s doing as president of the United States. The first federal disaster relief from Washington was in 1803 after a devastating fire in New Hampshire. And federal disaster relief has been going on since 1803 and was formally centered in one organization when FEMA was created 46 years ago.
FEMA has been a bipartisan success and enjoyed bipartisan support until Donald Trump decided to get rid of it because Elon Musk told him way back when they were still pretending to be friends. What was that? Years ago or I guess weeks ago.
"Dammit Donald, when are you going to act like you know what the hell you're doing."
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