Donald Trump has used social media to give updates and his thoughts on the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey in Texas over the last week. After claiming he saw the destruction of the storm "first hand," it was revealed that all he witnessed was a map of the storm while sitting at a table.
Trump trolled
As Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas last Friday, the city of Houston was hit worst of all. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes, with horrific images having circulated on television and across social media showing the tragedy that has taken place in the Lone Star State.
Experts have called the storm the worst to hit the state in over 500 years, with the hurricane having peaked at a Category 4 with winds reaching as much as 130 mph. Donald Trump and Melania Trump made their way to Texas on Tuesday, but stayed out of the heaviest hit areas. The president did receive criticism for appearing to treat his visit like a mini-campaign rally in Corpus Christi by bragging about the crowd size. Despite not meeting with any victims of the hurricane, the president did post a controversial image on his Instagram account which quickly came under fire by critics on August 31.
WH Photo Claiming Trump Witnessed Harvey ‘First Hand’ Shows the President Staring at a Screen https://t.co/lrN6qO56l2 pic.twitter.com/JCR6NP6ZU8
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) August 31, 2017
Taking to his Instagram account on Wednesday night, Donald Trump posted an image of himself staring at a map and screen of Hurricane Harvey, doing so indoors and at a desk.
Along with the image, a quote by the president was added that read "After witnessing first hand the horror and devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, my heart goes out to the great people of Texas!" As reported by Mediaite and pointed out by Ashley Feinberg, the president wasn't anywhere near the storm to see the devastation "first hand" like he claimed.
This is the best photo they could find for "witnessing first hand" pic.twitter.com/WoiCA7Piz4
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) August 31, 2017
Twitter trolls
Ashley Feinbery took to her Twitter account to mock Donald Trump, attaching an image of the Civil War before sarcastically tweeting, "as someone who witnessed the Civil War first hand, let me explain why Robert E.
Lee is such an impo." Another social media user posted a screenshot of a Google image search of the Grand Canyon, while writing, "here i am witnessing the majesty of the grand canyon first hand, it's amazing."
as someone who witnessed the civil war first hand, let me explain why robert e. lee is such an impo pic.twitter.com/fuo4TsYO7l
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) August 31, 2017
here i am witnessing the majesty of the grand canyon first hand, it's amazing pic.twitter.com/ueS2pFnlf2
— libby watson 🥞 (@libbycwatson) August 31, 2017
The negative reaction to Donald Trump continued to pour in, as it was made clear that his response to Hurricane Harvey would not be forgotten. As Trump continues on in the White House, his approval rating has dropped to just 35 percent in the most recently released round of polling.