Trump Claims To Have Witnessed Harvey's 'Horror And Devastation' Firsthand — But Didn't

Tweeting about his trip to Texas, President Trump on Wednesday told what might charitably be described as a Category 3 exaggeration about what damage he saw. The president was getting ready to head to Missouri for a talk on tax reform when he took to Twitter to speak of the "horror & devastation" he had witnessed "first hand."

The president had gone to Texas on Tuesday to be briefed on the destruction caused by Hurricane, and then, Tropical Storm, Harvey. He spent several hours in the state, mostly in Corpus Christi, which suffered little damage, and Austin, which suffered no damage.

In fact, aboard Air Force One on the way to Texas on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made a point of saying the president was purposely staying away from areas that had been hard hit.

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"The president wants to be very cautious about making sure that any activity doesn't disrupt any of the recovery efforts that are still ongoing, which is the reason for the locations we are going here today," she said.

But when the president retold the story, he gave a slightly different version.

While the president did meet with many state and federal officials during his trip, at no point did he meet with any actual victims who had lost property or relatives.

As Patch reported on Wednesday, there were several words that were not even spoken by the president during his four public appearances. Those words include: dead, death, homeless and displaced. He spoke more of crowd size and response than he did of those who had died.

Asked what he meant by "firsthand" at a briefing on Wednesday, Sanders offered:

"He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest.

"And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground — that certainly is a firsthand account."

Actually, for those who were describing their own experience, it was firsthand.

For those, such as Trump, who listened to them describe their experiences, it was the very definition of "secondhand."

Disaster Relief Might Demand A New Approach To Aid From Congress

Photo courtesy The White House