Hurricane Beryl, now classified as a weakened tropical storm, made landfall along the Texas coast early Monday, causing widespread flooding and leaving millions of Americans without power.
Power OutAs of Wednesday morning, about 1.7 million residents, mostly in the southeastern part of the state, were still without power.
President Joe Biden
Said The Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday that the White House was unable to provide quicker emergency aid to Texas after the hurricane made landfall because it failed to “track” state leaders to get formal requests for major disaster declarations.
“I’ve been trying to follow up with the governor and confirm it, but I don’t have the authority to do so without a specific request from the governor,” Biden said.
The Chronicle is
Support Biden The Democratic president’s proposal was released earlier this year, initially without comment from state leaders. Deleted A White House spokesman said “officials have attempted to contact Mr. Abbott and Mr. Patrick multiple times,” apparently without success.
Texas officials have suggested Biden’s suggestions and the Chronicle’s report don’t match reality. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) both suggested Tuesday that Biden is either lying or suffering from memory loss.
“Biden’s memory has failed again.”
“I am disappointed that President Biden is trying to politicize Hurricane Beryl,” Patrick said.
I have written Regarding X: “I had a cordial phone call today and he ended up granting my request for a major disaster declaration, but that’s not enough for him. He’s falsely accusing me of not being able to reach him.”
Patrick also noted that Biden, who has faced harsh criticism from friends and critics for his aging behavior, “clearly had no idea that FEMA workers had been standing with me for three days.”
“All the president had to do was call them and hand me their cell phone. I even took a photo with them!” Patrick continued. “Before we made a formal request, we had to determine what the outstanding needs were. We’ve been going around the affected areas and working with local officials. Today, while I was being briefed, I got a call from the president.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott Traveled Abbott will travel to Asia on Friday to foster and strengthen economic ties with Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is serving as acting governor until Abbott returns on Saturday.
Patrick on July 5, just days before the storm made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane.
Declared It declares a state of disaster and authorizes the use of all available national resources necessary “to deal with this disaster.”
Governor’s Office
Confirmed On Tuesday, Patrick went a step further, speaking with Biden to request a federal disaster declaration through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a request that was granted.
Adopting one of Biden’s usual refrains, Patrick said: “This is bullshit. He’s just whitewashing it!”
Patrick further criticized the “Biden lies” on Wednesday morning, summing up the situation this way: “I sought a Federal Disaster Declaration without delay and in a timely manner, and the President agreed. Unfortunately, President Biden is attempting to score political points by attacking Governor Abbott and me for reasons that make no sense. Mr. President, as you often say, ‘Please!’
Abbott similarly sharply criticized Biden’s apparent attempt to suggest his administration was out of reach.
‘Biden’s memory has failed again,’ Abbott says
I have written Tuesday evening. “He never called me once during Beryl. He had my number and called me on Memorial Day after the tornadoes hit Texas. I was on the phone every day with state and local officials during Beryl. I spoke to the FEMA administrator during the trade mission, but Biden never called.”
Governor’s spokesman Andrew Mahrelis said:
Said“This is a complete lie by Mr. Biden and frankly makes no sense. Mr. Biden and his administration know exactly how to communicate with governors and have done so many times in the past, most recently on Friday when FEMA called and spoke with governors.”
Maharelis also criticized the Houston Chronicle.
Focus on it“A lie travels halfway across the world before the truth comes out.” [sic] Put your boots on. @HoustonChron ran a fake exclusive on this nonsense based on incoherent statements from our President before we had a chance to respond. This is why Americans have lost trust in the media.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship and sign up for our newsletter to receive stories like this directly to your inbox. Register here!
