August 29, 2017

Trump Won’t Stop Treating Harvey Like a Campaign Rally

“What a crowd, what a turnout.”

Yin Bogu//ZUMA

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President Donald Trump arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday, where he met with emergency responders to discuss Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, and extend his support to Gov. Greg Abbott amid the storm’s devastation.

The president was joined by first lady Melania Trump, as well as several cabinet members, including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, and the Small Business Administration boss, Linda McMahon. 

But it’s perhaps what Trump failed to leave behind in Washington that’s been attracting the most attention today: his signature bravado, exaggeration, and self-congratulation.

During his brief visit on Tuesday, Trump repeatedly relied on superlatives to describe his administration’s response to the storm, labeling it “better than ever.” At one point, he commended FEMA administrator Brock Long for “becoming very famous on television” over the past several days.

“We won’t say congratulations,” Trump said during a press conference. “We don’t want to do that. We don’t want to congratulate. We’ll congratulate each other when it’s all finished.”

Despite the dire backdrop, the president appeared to relish his visit, boasting about the size of the crowd that gathered during his tour. One moment in particular recalled the tone of a Trump political rally: “Thank you everybody, I just want to say we love you, you are special, we’re here to take care,” he said, atop a firetruck. “I want to thank you for coming out. We’re gonna get you back and operating immediately, thank you everybody.”

He added: “What a crowd, what a turnout.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O24vxjf9q1E

In 2012, Trump warned against viewing Barack Obama as a “real president” during Hurricane Sandy. 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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