A former White House reporter who covered Donald Trump’s first term was shocked by an answer provided by a survivor of the recent floods in Texas.
Brian J. Karem, who famously asked Trump if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost the 2020 election, wrote a piece on Substack called, “Donald Trump – the ultimate pimp.” In the article, he argues that “the Texas floods are an allegory for the United States in 2025.”
He goes on to describe a recent trip to Texas, in which he interviewed those impacted.
“Unfortunately, many of them still love Trump. In Kerrville I ran across some of them,” he wrote. “I asked a woman who stood along the road to get a glimpse of her ‘favorite President’ if she thought the federal government was doing enough for those suffering from the floods. ‘Hell no,’ she said as she waved a Donald Trump sign.”
“We tried to call FEMA and couldn’t get through, and it’s been a week and people are still missing. Those poor families. My cousin’s daughter is still missing,” the woman said.
Karem replied, “President Trump says the federal government has responded very well.”
Her response is what stunned the veteran reporter.
“Well, President Trump knows best,” she replied, according to the article.
“I was speechless,” Karem wrote Sunday. “Elsewhere, near Ingram, I ran across people who had, by word of mouth, alerted others to the floods, had driven to affected campgrounds and risked their own lives to help evacuate others.”
Karem also said there was plenty of blame to go around.
“As much as the response to this year’s flood is a reflection on Donald Trump – (who no longer wants to eliminate FEMA after witnessing the devastation in the Hill Country firsthand) and about Texas governor Greg Abbott as well as all the local, state and federal legislators who could have done something over the years but didn’t – it is more importantly a reflection of who we are,” he wrote.