Outrage on social media over liberal figures politicizing Texas flood disaster

Fox News

a day ago

Some liberals may end up regretting their social media posts politicizing the disastrous flooding in Texas after getting major backlash this week.
Multiple liberal figures on social media, along with major Democratic Party figures, took serious heat this week after blaming the damage and deaths caused by flooding in Texas this week on President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Even some other prominent liberals condemned the political attacks over the flooding.
"It takes a serious lack of humanity to see children die in a natural disaster and respond with something along the lines of 'that's what they voted for,'" former Bernie Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner said in response to one viral post.
At least 91 people, including children and counselors at a girls' camp, were killed in central Texas in flash flooding that began early on the morning of the Fourth of July, the White House said on Monday. The toll is expected to rise with dozens more missing as of Monday.
The National Weather Service sent several flash flood warnings early Friday morning, followed by several flash flood emergency notices.
Some critics of Trump wasted little time, saying his cuts to the federal government – namely staffing cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) – hampered the state's natural disaster response preparedness and led to destruction and loss of life.
In a post from over the weekend, MeidasTouch.com editor-in-chief Ron Filipkowski wrote, "The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott. That is exactly what they [are] getting." The commentator appeared to have deleted the post shortly after sharing it.
Turner called Filipkowski's post "shameful."
Texas pediatrician Christina Propst shared a social media post wishing that "MAGA" people affected by the flooding should reap the effects of what they voted for, while expressing hope that "non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry."
"Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for," she said, adding, "Bless their hearts."
Click2Houston reported Sunday that Propst's employer, Blue Fish Pediatrics, condemned the statement and announced she was no longer employed.
"The individual is no longer employed by Blue Fish Pediatrics. As we previously mentioned in our original statement, we strongly condemn the comments that were made in that post. That post does not reflect the values, standards, or mission of Blue Fish Pediatrics. We do not support or condone any statement that politicizes tragedy, diminishes human dignity, or fails to clearly uphold compassion for every child and family. We continue to extend our full support to the families and the surrounding communities who are grieving, recovering, and searching for hope," the post read.
The official account for "The Democrats" shared a screenshot of a headline Sunday, which stated, "As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas." The account commented, "Reminder: The staffing shortages at the National Weather Service's San Angelo and San Antonio offices doubled under the Trump administration. These jobs are meant to coordinate disaster response and save lives."
Other social media users hammered the post. Meteorologist Chris Martz replied with an Associated Press report citing National Weather Service office meteorologist Jason Runyen's assessment that his office had extra staffers at the time of the flooding.
"The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during the storms, Runyen said. Where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had up to five on staff," the AP stated.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., pointed fingers at the GOP as well, posting on Saturday, "Accurate weather forecasting helps avoid fatal disasters. There are consequences to Trump's brainless attacks on public workers, like meteorologists."
Conservative commentator Carmine Sabia trashed Murphy, stating, "As they are searching for the bodies of babies. You should be ashamed but you have no shame."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling for an investigation into whether NWS cuts played a role in the response to the catastrophic flooding.
CBS Austin meteorologist Avery Tomasco insisted that the National Weather Service was functional at the time of the flooding. "All I'll say is this. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the catastrophic flood. A flash flood warning was issued for Hunt & Ingram 3 HOURS before the Guadalupe started to climb. They did their job and they did it well," he wrote on X on Friday.
In another X post, Nina Turner provided some fact-checking of her own regarding Trump's budget cuts, stating, "The GOP's budget cuts to NOAA are set to take effect at the start of fiscal year 2026, which begins on October 1, 2025. Anyone making the deaths of the children in Texas about partisan politics is morally bankrupt. Please reflect."
"Multiple things can be true at the same time: 1. the funding cuts are bad. 2. the tragedy in Texas was a tragedy. Not being able to hold those two beliefs and jumping to 'they got what they voted for' will absolutely not move us towards any resolution."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson ripped liberals blaming Trump's cuts.
"It's shameful and disgusting that in the wake of tragedy, the left's first instinct is to lie and politicize a disaster to target their political opponents," she told Fox News Digital. "False claims about the NWS have been repeatedly debunked by meteorologists, experts, and other public reporting. The NWS did their job, even issuing a flood watch more than 12 hours in advance. The Trump Administration is grateful to the first responders who sprang into action to save hundreds lives during this catastrophe, and will continue to help the great state of Texas in their recovery efforts."
At Monday's press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that any media outlets or Democrats blaming Trump for the flooding should feel ashamed of themselves.