As Hurricane Michael decimated the Florida Panhandle before approaching the Carolinas, President Donald Trump caught flack for holding a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said that the president was
“holding a full-on pep rally while Americans are suffering and dying in northwest Florida.”
As the criticism grew stronger, hosts of Fox and Friends--arguably the president's favorite morning show on his favorite network--grasped at straws to defend him.
After reminding viewers that the president didn't want to let down the people waiting in line for his rally, co-host Steve Doocy added that the president began the speech by "talking about thoughts and prayers of the people down there.” Another co-host, Brian Kilmeade, assured viewers that the reason the president called into Fox News host Sharon Bream's show "was to say 'listen, I’m here at the rally, but my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Florida.'"
A video of the exchange is available at Mediaite.
With two people already dead and over 100 thousand Floridians without power, Americans aren't buying it.
Even by Trump's own standards, holding a campaign rally amidst an impending national disaster is gauche at best.
As Americans everywhere have come to learn, there's a Trump tweet for everything--including for this.
Many are holding him to this standard until the president's "thoughts and prayers" do something to improve the situation.
It has others pointing out Trump's consistency in bungling responses to national disasters.
Additionally, even the phrase "thoughts and prayers" has evolved from genuine wishes for hope and recovery during America's most trying times to a patronizing phrase used to numb the expectation of actual action. This is exemplified best with reactions to the mass shooting crisis in the United States.
Though the words ring hollow, rest assured that the folks at Fox News find them redemptive. Even if "thoughts and prayers" don't bring power back to 800,000 people, there's always paper towel rolls.
