Texas. Gov. Abbott Challenges Biden’s Recollection of Hurricane Beryl Disaster Request
Abbott’s Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris called the president’s claims that Abbot was unreachable by phone “a complete lie.”
The ferocious winds associated with Hurricane Beryl have died down, but the winds of change blowing strongly in Washinton, D.C., are now hitting Texas.
Earlier this week, Biden tried to make himself seem like the hero of the hour by expediting the disaster aid request for the state, which was required due to the storm’s impact.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the federal government could not distribute emergency relief supplies, including power generators, after Hurricane Beryl hit Texas until the White House was able to “track down” state leaders and get their formal request for a major disaster declaration.
Biden’s comments came as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is serving as acting governor while Greg Abbott is on an economic development trip in Asia. The president said in an exclusive interview with the Houston Chronicle that he had been trying to contact the governor to get the necessary requests to release the federal aid, which includes manpower and supplies.
“I’ve been trying to track down the governor to see — I don’t have any authority to do that without a specific request from the governor,” Biden said.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott challenged Biden’s entire account, saying the allegation was “completely false and bizarre.”
“You would think that if a president were to make an attack like that on a governor, he would have the receipts to prove it,” Abbott said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Television during a trip to Asia to attract investment.
“When Joe Biden said this time he called me, he just flat out made it up.”
And, apparently, Biden never called to check on the status of the state after Beryl hit.
Biden's memory fails again.
Not once did he call me during Beryl.
He has my number & called me on Memorial Day after tornadoes hit Texas.
I've had daily calls with state & local officials during Beryl.
I spoke with FEMA Admin while on our trade mission but Biden never called.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 9, 2024
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick was also angered by Biden’s account. Patrick is serving as the acting governor while Abbott has been on a visit to Asia.
“I am disappointed that President Biden is turning Hurricane Beryl into a political issue. We had a cordial call today that ended up with him granting my request for a major disaster declaration,” said Patrick. “But that’s not good enough for him. He is falsely accusing me that I was not reachable.”
Patrick later posted a screenshot of a phone record indicating that Chief Nim Kidd of the Texas Department of Emergency Management had received only one phone call from the White House at 11:49 a.m. Tuesday morning — received while Kidd and Patrick were sitting together.
The lieutenant governor also noted that employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had been with him for three days.
“All [Biden] had to do was call them and have them hand their phone to me,” said Patrick.
Abbott’s Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris called the president’s claims “a complete lie.”
I am disappointed that President Biden is turning Hurricane Beryl into a political issue. We had a cordial call today that ended up with him granting my request for a major disaster declaration. But that’s not good enough for him. He is falsely accusing me that I was not…
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) July 9, 2024
And while the hurricane is over, the recovery now begins. Currently, over 1.6 million Texans remain in the dark and without air conditioning as brutal heat and humidity continue.
Hurricane Beryl roared ashore near the Texas city of Matagorda as a powerful Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning and pummeled the region with wind gusts higher than 90 mph, a 3-6-foot storm surge and heavy precipitation.
..As of Wednesday afternoon, approximately 1.7 million customers are still without power, and crews are continuing to clear debris and replace broken equipment to get electricity flowing once again.
“As part of our process to assess the impact of Hurricane Beryl, we’ve walked approximately 4,500 miles of our electric circuits on foot and have used helicopters and drone surveillance to further inspect damage across our service territory,” CenterPoint Energy said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Finally, as a palate cleanser for all the hysteria-driven hurricane coverage, I offer this rational and sober perspective:
For some context. Since records began in 1986… That is 0.00000008% of Earth's history. https://t.co/PUucBwc6l6
— Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki (@MatthewWielicki) July 9, 2024
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Comments
This WH team is run by Dr Jill. They will say anything, do anything to denigrate anyone opposed to their agenda. The “tell” is that we who have been through hurricanes know that the Governor / Lt Governor are in their emergency management rooms, constantly on TV and speaking with local affected areas. FJB
Agree with what you say, but please don’t legitimize jill biden by putting “Dr.” in front of the name. I have friends with Phd’s as Research Doctor, Physics & Astromomy and Classical Music who ask people NOT to call them “Dr” and especially outside their workplaces.
Birdbrain jill didn’t earn her degree, people gave her the fast lane because of crooked joe. Furthermore, read her so called thesis and see what ‘s in that drivel. Plain jill biden is more than sufficient.
Despite Biden’s utter failure, don’t expect the press to treat this as his “Katrina” moment….
The Left has lied for so long that it is no longer capable of recognizing the difference between truth and falsehood.
And Biden hasn’t the mental capacity to stand up and walk for twenty yards, much less initiate a telephone call to a state governor regarding a weather disaster.
“And Biden hasn’t the mental capacity to stand up and walk for twenty yards”
Ha ha. Very true. But Fetterman supports him. He figures if they start imposing minimum mental health requirements, he’ll be out too.
Maybe Joe ran out of minutes on his calling plan.
Maybe Joe is using a cheap Obama phone?
It was Joe’s bad. He was supposed to use the white phone, not the purple one with pictures of Barney the Dinosaur on all the buttons.
He doesn’t have a string long enough for his tin can telephone.
Or they give him a Fisher Price telephone….
When Biden called “SCAM LIKELY” appeared on all those called cell phones so they just ignored the calls.
For a Cat 1 hurricane Beryl has had an extraordinary impact. Not only the huge number of tornadoes, but about 3 million customers without power, heavy rains following a period of heavy rains resulting in extensive flooding. Other services impacted by the power/flooding combination, trees down over a significant part of the state, etc.
I wonder how much of the loss of electricity is due to wind farms being damaged or obliterated. FJB
Probably little to none. Most of the wind farms are well to the west of the hurricane’s impact.
What else has been done incorrectly or worse in the last three and a half years due to the biden White House being poorly run? Biden is a compulsive liar and we have documented proof on that score. His addled wife seems to be right there with him in incompetence, although in her pea sized brain she probably thinks she’s the best president in our history.
The good news here is that Biden’s portfolio is now so damaged that people are no longer hesitant to callhim a liar to his face. We’ve finally overcome all that “respect the office” nonsense.
Most tornado warnings, eh? Who cares? Any thinking person, should they want to track tornado data would keep track of how many actual tornadoes were created. I get far more tornado warnings than I get tornadoes.
Pathological liar.
Tornado warnings are issued when a tornado is sighted, so the number of tornadoes is at least as great as the number of warnings. Tornado watches, on the other hand, are issued when conditions are favorable for the formation of tornadoes, and thus may be less than the actual number of tornadoes.
“”the number of tornadoes is at least as great as the number of warnings””
Considering weather conditions and visibility, it’s entirely possible for various observers to report the same tornado in slightly different positions. I don’t know how NOAA handles that. Of course, the opposite can be true. If the observer isn’t in position to see any surface contact/damage, a tornado might be reported as just a funnel cloud. Even after doing a little research, I’m still not clear as to whether radar can distinguish between a tornado and a funnel cloud. I’d be interested in somebody more knowledgeable clarifying that for me.
This character flaw in the WH of always blaming others, never being accountable, refusing any responsibility, always seeking victim status while simultaneously painting themselves as the savior isn’t limited to just Biden, the WH staff or d/prog …. though it IS very pronounced in them.
This character flaw in the WH of always blaming others
I’m not sure it’s so much a character flaw as it is a deliberate plan. Ugh.
How is it that this one time Biden says he can’t go beyond his legal authority? It didn’t stop him with student loan forgiveness. Or anything else that matters to … whoever is making the decisions.
This is a practical matter. A POTUS has to wait for a request from a governor to know that the governor is ready to receive the assistance. Most people don’t realize that federal emergency assistance is merely supplied to a State. Once in-State, the distribution of supplies and the application of technical, medical, and other assistance is the responsibility of the State’s governor. Supplying assistance and supplies to a governor who has not indicated his readiness to accept them would be a waste of resources. (Meaning GWB was wrongly cast as the villain of Katrina when supplies delivered by FEMA weren’t deployed effectively at the State level. That’s not a federal responsibility.)
To be fair
1. Joe didn’t even know that a hurricane had occurred. His daily routine is difficult enough for him, and there’s certainly no time for briefing him on things that don’t matter to his political life.
2. The Democrats have a long tradition of screwing Republican states in these situations. It’s just politics as usual here. No need to bother the Boss about it. Jill has more important things to do.
Jill has more important things to do. Like what?
For one thing she demanded that the United States Marine Band compose an original tune to be played for the first lady. And they did.
Wait, are you telling me that Jill really did request her own “Hail to the Chief” when she comes out? Yes, that’s what I’m telling you.
I would have composed 4’54” (4’33” ending with a 21-gun salute).
fjb had the msm downgrade the hurricane to
rain storm
“Challenges Biden’s recollection”
Biden has very limited recollection at this point. Ask him when his son died, how many military service members were killed on his watch, or even what he said or did yesterday—and he will pull a blank.