San Antonio news anchor Stephania Jimenez didn’t hold back her frustration on Saturday after watching a press conference that seemed more like a political rally than an urgent update on the deadly flash floods tearing through central Texas.
Jimenez, reporting for KSAT, called out officials — including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Texas Governor Greg Abbott — for spending the better part of the press conference thanking each other and former President Donald Trump instead of giving the public the information they were desperately waiting for.
“What I was struck by is that we really didn’t get any concrete information until 27 minutes into that news conference,” she said. “You had the governor speak, you had Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak for a while. But you know what people are wanting is information”, reported HuffPost.
As the death toll climbed to at least 82 people, Jimenez pointed out how the briefing felt disconnected from the urgency and fear many Texans were feeling in real time. Instead of focusing on flood warnings, search efforts, or rescue updates, the officials used their time to shout out names and celebrate each other’s roles.
“I don’t know what it is about people who run for federal office that whenever disasters like this happen, they take it upon themselves to first list all the names of people they want to thank,” Jimenez said. “Um, not what we want to hear right now.”
It wasn’t until 26 minutes and 30 seconds in that reporters were allowed to ask questions, after Abbott theatrically signed a disaster-aid request and declared Trump’s love for Texas. He also asked for prayers several times and praised Trump again, while Noem echoed those sentiments and mentioned multiple conversations she’d had with the former president.
Senator John Cornyn and others continued in the same tone, using much of their time at the podium to applaud Trump, Noem, and Abbott, all while families across Texas were still searching for missing loved ones and hoping for clear answers.
Jimenez didn’t mince words about how hollow and performative it all felt. “If they don’t have the latest information that they can give us, they should have said so,” she said. “My point is that they spent way too long thanking each other. And this is something that is bipartisan. We see it whenever there’s a disaster. Doesn’t matter which president is in office. For some reason federal leaders tend to thank each other for a long time before they tell us what we actually need.”
She ended her remarks with a plea, hoping someone in charge would take note before the next briefing. “People are on pins and needles waiting,” Jimenez said.
While Texans continue to deal with loss and uncertainty, many viewers agreed that the time for back-patting is long over. People just want answers, not applause.