THE NARRATIVE SHIFTS, AS SCOTT ADAMS PREDICTED: Trump doesn’t cry or sing, but he knows how to help Harvey victims.
Harvey dumped around 25 trillion gallons of water on Texas and Louisiana, flooding countless homes and wrecking cities.
But the Federal Emergency Management Agency was on site two days before the storm hit. The National Guard and Coast Guard quickly mobilized and have saved thousands of lives.
On Tuesday, Trump went to Corpus Christi, Texas, to survey some of the damage and cheered on the relief effort. He told the local people that “Texas can handle anything” and he held up a state flag to roars of proud approval.
Still, religion writer Anthea Butler said in a New York Times op-ed that Trump’s actions were “devoid of empathy” because he didn’t mention any of the roughly 40 people that died in the storm.
That Trump says, “Wow!” and, “Spirit of the people is incredible. Thanks!” on Twitter makes for long and restless nights for the media. Meanwhile, everyone else is relieved Harvey was managed as best as possible.
Journalists need Trump to sing “Amazing Grace” or wipe away a tear at the White House press podium in order to feel like he’s really doing the job right.
In January 2016, then-President Obama cried while talking about the executive actions he was taking on gun control.
Chris Cillizza, a Washington Post blogger at the time, wrote, “I do have a strongly held belief in favor of men — including male politicians — crying in public if necessary.” He added, “I say this as, yes, a male who occasionally cries in public.”
After the 2015 mass shooting at church in Charleston, S.C., Obama delivered a sermon and broke into song.
The Atlantic magazine was so moved by the moment, it published an entire analysis by Peter Manseau on Obama’s rhetorical pause, calling it a “high-wire act.”
Trump doesn’t cry and he doesn’t sing, but he did pledge $1 million of his own money to the relief effort and the administration saved lives during a record-breaking hurricane.
That’s not enough for the media. But perhaps it meant something to Houston.
Perhaps.