Speaking on Fox News' The Five, Jessica Tarlov called out her co-host Jesse Watters for not holding President Donald Trump accountable for the ongoing deadly floods in Texas as he did former President Joe Biden during Hurricane Helene last year.
The flash flood disaster has claimed the lives of at least 110 people as of this writing. Among the victims were 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River. Officials warn that the death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continue amid widespread devastation.
As the storm prompted the public to question the effectiveness of current warning systems and whether more could have been done in advance to prevent the loss of life, Watters has remained silent about how cuts made by the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have adversely impacted the nation's preparedness systems.
Helene was the deadliest hurricane to strike the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. Roughly half of the victims were in North Carolina, with many others in Georgia and South Carolina.
Despite the threat the storms posed to people who lived in its path, Trump blatantly lied about the federal response to Helene, echoing a circulating rumor that survivors would receive only $750 from FEMA. This amount actually referred to immediate assistance FEMA is able to provide to affected individuals in disaster zones.
Yet, Fox News hardly complained as Trump spread these lies, as Jessica Tarlov quickly reminded Watters.
You can hear what Tarlov said in the video below.
Tarlov said:
"Listen, this is one of the more devastating stories that I think we’ve had to cover. As a mother of two daughters that are going to go to camp at some point, I cannot even imagine what that feels like. I’ve been reading the testimonials, especially about the fathers and grandfathers that are walking around that camp looking for a thermos with their kid’s name on it or some sign that they were there."
"Maybe they find the body of another camper, maybe they find their own child or grandchild. Unimaginable. I’m so sorry for them and I’m sorry for any hurt that any comments about this tragedy has caused these families."
"I don’t think that talking about preparedness or what might have helped qualifies as impugning the memory of those that have been lost, or detracting from the thoughtful conversation that needs to take place, because this river has been flooding for a very long time."
"There are a number of instances in this and we were here around the table when Hurricane Helene struck and I did not hear Jesse Watters, who I’m thrilled is back around the table, saying that Donald Trump should stop spreading lies about the Biden administration and the FEMA funds."
She added:
"Trump came out and he said, 'They’re giving your FEMA dollars to illegals. They’re housing them with your FEMA dollars.' Then he said you’re only gonna get $750 from FEMA, which was a complete lie, and there are Republican officials who have testified to the fact that people did not get their FEMA assistance because of what Trump and other Republicans were saying."
"There are over $54 billion in identified needs in terms of disaster resistance when it comes to these kinds of flash floods that state officials are asking for, and the GOP legislature has rejected them. That is something that they can work on to move forward and hopefully avoid a tragedy like this again.”
Many echoed her criticism of Watters and the GOP at large.
Meanwhile, Texas Democratic State Representative Drew Darby, who represents the Concho Valley, is calling on Governor Greg Abbott to include emergency disaster preparedness and relief in the Legislature’s upcoming special session on July 21.
In a letter to Abbott, Darby emphasized the urgency of action in the wake of the deadly floods, noting that "while we cannot change the past, we must act now to better prepare our communities for future natural disasters.”
He urged Abbott to back legislation that would invest in a “more robust and comprehensive alert system” and support a “coordinated, long-term recovery effort that leaves no community behind.”
Darby’s proposal calls for the development and deployment of a “sophisticated, statewide emergency alert system” capable of delivering timely, localized, and accessible warnings across both urban and rural areas.
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