Trump Obsessed With Avoiding His Own 'Katrina Moment'

[DonViejo]

From planning for Florence to post-spinning Maria, the president deeply fears looking like Bush.

Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng, Sam Stein
09.13.18 6:04 PM ET

As he prepares for one natural disaster and tries to spin his way out of another, President Donald Trump, aides and friends say, is guided by a singular obsession: never to have a hurricane dubbed his “Katrina.”

That obsession became painfully evident this week as Trump, in the midst of preparing for Hurricane Florence’s landfall, took time on Thursday morning to trumpet post-facto justifications of the federal government's response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island of Puerto Rico last year. In a series of tweets, he claimed—without any evidence—that the 3,000 or so deaths tied to that storm were an exaggerated count used by Democrats to make him look bad.

It read like a shocking bit of insensitivity from the White House just at the moment that it was preparing for another potentially deadly storm. But those familiar with Trump’s approach say he does in fact care about the widespread devastation and loss of life that resulted from Maria and could potentially result from Florence—if for no other reason than he also has an intense fixation on managing public perception of his performance in these moments.

“Multiple times I’ve heard him talk about how you don’t want a Katrina moment,” recalled a former senior Trump White House official. “You can’t do anything about what weather is going to do, but you can certainly manage the response and the optics of what you’re doing in addition to the substance of what you’re doing.”

All presidents are aware of how their responses to natural disasters are perceived, in large part because history is littered with politicians whose careers were crippled by perceived inadequate responses. The most cautionary tale is that of George W. Bush, who infamously looked out the window of Air Force One as it flew over a ravaged New Orleans following Katrina’s landfall in 2005—a moment of perceived indifference that dogged the rest of his presidency.

more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-obsessed-with-avoiding-his-own-katrina-even-if-its-too-late?ref=home

[htuttle]

1. Too late. He already had a Maria moment

[Dave Starsky]

3. No kidding. That headline is messed up.

Dude already had his own incompetent hurricane response on an epic scale. This will be his second.

[bdamomma]

6. exactly,

this will be his second hurricane. he's the winner in this category.

[vlyons]

2. I expect his response to Florence will be fukked up

His regime has shown over and over how incompetent it is. In addition to his Maria response, his separaing chilfdren from parents is another incompetent butt show.

[Girard442]

4. it's a little hard to fight the perception of being uncaring, incompetent, and thuggish...

...when you are uncaring, incompetent, and thuggish.

[tanyev]

5. Don't worry, Donald. You don't look anything like Bush.

Your idiocy, pettiness and narcissism eclipse him at every turn.

[VOX]

7. "Shit, another fuckin' hurricane. Can you believe it? Now I gotta act like I care."

Sorry for the profanity, but I can EASILY envision that cynical idiot saying something similar.