6 days ago
Doctor sacked for saying flood victims were Trump supporters who got ‘what they voted for'
'I understand my comment caused immense pain to those suffering indescribable grief'
At least 119 people are feared dead in the floods
A children's doctor in the US has apologised after a post claiming the Texas flood victims were Trump supporters who got 'what they voted for' went viral.
Houston pediatrician Dr Christina B Propst, who issued a grovelling apology having been sacked over the post, said she is taking 'full responsibility' for her words.
Claiming she had not known that 'so many precious lives were lost to the terrible tragedy' at the time she posted the message, she said she was 'deeply sorry'
'I speak to you as a mother, a neighbor, a pediatrician, and a human being who is deeply sorry,' she added in a post first reported by the Texas news station KPRC.
'I understand my comment caused immense pain to those suffering indescribable grief and for that I am truly sorry.
Dr Christina B Propst issued a grovelling apology
News in 90 Seconds - July 10th
'I would like to make clear that my regrettable comment was in no way a response to the tragic loss of human life … and … that is a fact that I deeply regret.'
Blaming the backlash on her post 'being shared with the false impression that I made it after the devastating loss of life was known,' she acknowledged: 'The comment was mine and mine alone.'
More than 160 people, including dozens of children, are reportedly still missing in the wake of the devastating floods, and at least 119 have died — with that number expected to rise, officials said.
While insisting she wrote her post before knowing anyone had died, she admitted: 'The words written were mine and regardless of how they are being presented, that is a fact that I deeply regret.
'I want to apologize to each and every individual suffering through terrible loss in this difficult time.'
In the post, Propst alluded to how Kerr county, Texas, had – like the state as a whole – voted in favour of Trump as he defeated former vice-president Kamala Harris in November's White House election.
The since-deleted post that appeared under her old Facebook username, Chris Tina, read: 'May all visitors, children, 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. Bless their hearts.'
In a statement issued on Monday after she was initially suspended, Propst's employer, Blue Fish Pediatrics, said she was 'no longer employed'.
According to a biography at Blue Fish's website which was recently taken offline, Propst is a native of New York who graduated from Princeton University in 1991.
She graduated from New Orleans's Tulane medical school, received certifications from the American board as well as academy of pediatrics and spent 17 years in group practice in Houston before joining Blue Fish in 2018.
At least 119 people are feared dead in the floods
Propst insisted that politics had never impacted her judgment or actions as a medical provider, adding that she is 'tirelessly committed to children's medical care and would never be so callous as to make such a remark about lives cut so terribly short.'
She said her words came from 'a place of frustration' amid her belief that better support is needed to prepare and respond to disasters.
'We strongly condemn the comments that were made in that post,' Blue Fish Pediatrics' statement said. '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, regardless of background or beliefs.'
According to the Guardian, many US healthcare providers are required by their employers, as a condition of their employment, to avoid circulating opinions which could undermine trust in their profession among members of the public.
Propst' post was published as communities along Texas's Guadalupe River were overwhelmed from flash flooding triggered by torrential rain on Friday morning.
The river rose eight metres in 45 minutes leading to the deaths of at least 119 people.
This includes more than two dozen campers and counsellors at the nondenominational Christian institution of Camp Mystic.
