President Donald Trump tweeted a message for the people of Texas suffering through Hurricane Harvey Wednesday morning, a day after he received some criticism for not focusing more on the human toll of the disaster during his visit to Texas Tuesday.
During the visit, which took him to Corpus Christi and Austin, Trump thanked government officials and emergency response leaders for their work in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on Tuesday, but did not make specific reference to victims of the storm -- a departure from comments ordinarily made by presidents visiting disaster locations.
The president made three separate public remarks on Tuesday, but made only a brief mention of those suffering in Harvey's wake, and did not acknowledge those who lost their lives in the hurricane. Instead, he focused his comments on praising the response effort, and even made direct mention of the size of the crowd that came to see him. The omission garnered notice from former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who served under President George W. Bush and was recently hired as a commentator by FOX News.
"I was with President Bush when he went to see the devastation caused by fires in Missouri and Arizona and tornadoes in Missouri," Fleischer told Fox News' "America's News Headquarters" on Tuesday evening. "There was something missing from what President Trump said -- that’s the empathy for the people who suffer. In my opinion, that should’ve been the first thing he said, that his heart goes out to those people in Houston who are going through this and that the government is here to help them recover from this."
At least 31 people have died in the storm, according to The Associated Press, including a Houston police officer. Six more victims in Harris County, home to Houston, were confirmed dead by officials late Wednesday. Thousands of people have been evacuated across the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana due to unprecedented flooding.
Trump lauded emergency responders, but said he did not want to offer premature congratulations.
"We won't say congratulations," Trump said in Corpus Christi, Texas, Tuesday. "We don't want to do that. We don't want to congratulate. We'll congratulate each other when it's all finished."
He visited parts of Texas ravaged by the storm, a trip that is providing him with the opportunity to demonstrate his handling of a natural disaster as commander in chief.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters later in the day Tuesday that the president plans to return to Texas on Saturday to visit areas he was unable to, and to meet with evacuees. Sanders said the president's priority during Tuesday's visit was to not disrupt recovery and relief efforts.
Trump portrayed the situation at a briefing Tuesday with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and FEMA Administrator Brock Long as one that he hopes sets the standard for emergency response in coming years.
"We want to be looked at in five years, in 10 years from now as 'This is the way to do it,'" Trump said. "This was of epic proportion. Nobody's ever seen anything like this, and I just want to say that working with the governor and his entire team has been an honor for us."