There are times when the media narrative veers so wildly from reality that you have to pause and ask whether anyone is even interested in facts anymore. This weekend’s horrific floods in Texas — claiming the lives of at least 90 people, including 28 children — offered one of those moments.
A catastrophe of this magnitude rightly stirs grief, questions, and a demand for accountability. But almost on cue, members of the press and the Democratic political class began targeting the Trump administration with blame that was not only misplaced — it was fabricated.
The narrative forming among outlets like MSNBC and figureheads like Al Sharpton, George Stephanopoulos, and even Hakeem Jeffries is that the tragedy was worsened by budget cuts to the National Weather Service under Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That talking point was repeated enough times on Sunday shows and social media to create the illusion of truth.
But here’s the reality: it’s not true. At all.
According to both the Wired report — not exactly a bastion of pro-Trump sentiment — and firsthand testimony from National Weather Service meteorologists, the NWS did its job. In fact, they did it better than usual. Five forecasters were on staff at the Austin/San Antonio office during the storms — more than double the normal number. Forecasts were delivered with precision, emergency alerts were issued with hours of lead time, and local agencies had the information they needed.
Even CNN’s own climate science expert admitted the NWS provided escalating warnings as the storm intensified. The breakdown — where it occurred — was not at the federal level. It was in how those local warnings were heeded, received, or acted upon.
The Department of Homeland Security released a comprehensive timeline showing that flood watches and flash flood warnings were issued well in advance. Wireless emergency alerts were activated. NOAA weather radios were triggered. The system worked. But when a river rises 26 feet in 45 minutes — in the middle of the night — even the best systems may not save everyone.
The instinct to blame Washington is hardly new. During Hurricane Katrina, media outlets made George W. Bush the scapegoat for New Orleans’ levee failures and local leadership missteps. During the Lahaina fires in Hawaii, President Biden escaped direct scrutiny, with blame rightly placed on local emergency response officials. But whenever a Republican is president, the media reflexively assigns responsibility to the top — even when the facts say otherwise.
This is political opportunism masquerading as concern. It’s a callous exploitation of tragedy to score rhetorical points. And it’s deeply dishonest.
The claim that DOGE budget adjustments caused the deaths in Kerr County doesn’t just fall apart under scrutiny — it disintegrates. It’s built on conjecture, partisan bitterness, and zero supporting evidence.
We live in a time when natural disasters are weaponized politically before the water even recedes. And yet, the same institutions claiming to care about the truth refuse to report that the National Weather Service did its job. That it was local agencies who had more than 12 hours of warning. That the river rose with a speed no meteorologist could have forecast with precision. That tragedy — not malice, not incompetence — was the driving force here.
President Trump signed a disaster declaration promptly. His administration worked with state and local officials. And no, the NWS was not understaffed or caught off guard.
But don’t expect corrections from the media. This was never about accountability. It was about narrative.
