Trump Says Noem Did Bang-Up Job on Flood Response Because ‘She Was Literally the First Person I Saw on Television’
President Donald Trump praised Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for her response to the deadly floods in central Texas that have killed more than 120 people. More than 150 others are missing.
Noem is facing questions about the response of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under DHS. On Wednesday, CNN reported that FEMA’s response was slowed by a new policy that Noem instituted, whereby she must personally sign off on contracts and grants of more than $100,000.
In an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC News on Thursday, Trump defended Noem. The president’s comments were seized on by Chris Hayes on All In. Hayes noted that he did not have a recording of the interview, but he read the following exchange:
WELKER: There are these reports that have come out that Secretary Noem, I guess, had to have signoff on FEMA expenditures, and they may have delayed some of the response.
TRUMP: I don’t know anything about it. We were right on time. We were there. In fact, she was the first one I saw on television. She was there right from the beginning, and she would not have needed anything. She had the right to do it, but she was literally the first person I saw on television.
WELKER: Yeah
TRUMP: –that morning when we all woke up and saw this tragedy that took place during the evening. And she was right on the ball. She’s done a great job.
Hayes was gobsmacked by Trump’s benchmark for what constitutes “a great job” in Trump’s mind.
“She was on TV!” Hayes said. “So, obviously she’s doing a great job, right?”
The host went on to note that Noem had canceled a $3 million grant meant to create an advanced weather warning system for residents of New York.
“That is even though just a couple of days ago, she conceded that our infrastructure is in need of an upgrade in order to give folks adequate warning ahead of natural disasters,” he explained before airing a clip of Noem in Texas after the floods.
“We know that everybody wants more warning time, and that’s why we’re working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected by far too long to make sure that families have as much advanced notice as possible,” the secretary said.
“Well, they didn’t have as much advanced knowledge as possible,” Hayes reacted. “And the grant that was studying how to do it, you just canceled.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
