Michigan Governor Rick Snyder admitted yesterday that the water crisis in Flint is a failure on his part and did not dispute the accusation that this is his Hurricane Katrina.
Snyder sat down for an interview with National Journal‘s Ron Fournier yesterday and took full responsibility. Fournier asked him rather bewilderedly how state officials couldn’t have known about tests that showed led in the water last summer.
Snyder said, ” They showed there was lead in the water but not at a level required to take action.”
He admits that more action should have been taken, pushed by him, though he did say once the state health department confirmed there were issues with the water, they acted quickly.
Fournier asked, “But you do see this as a black mark on your leadership and a potential opportunity to turn things around?”
Snyder provided this response:
It’s clearly a negative on what we’ve accomplished since I’ve been governor. And I don’t even describe it as an opportunity I just want to make sure we’re doing whatever we can to deal with the damage and address the people of Flint in a constructive way
He knows he’s lost a lot of the public’s trust, and even told Fournier he may consider releasing all his emails on the Flint water crisis.
Plenty of people in and outside of Flint are calling for his resignation. Snyder said in response, “If you’re in Flint and you’re affected by it I can see a wide range of opinions on lots of things.”
He doesn’t plan on resigning, for the record.
[image via screengrab]
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