President Donald Trump should show a bit more compassion to the suffering and thankfulness to first responders, Ari Fleischer, who served as President George W. Bush's press secretary, said Tuesday.
"I was with President Bush when he went to see the devastation caused by fires in Missouri and Arizona and tornadoes in Missouri," Fleischer told Fox News' "Happening Now." "There was something missing from what President Trump said, I hope he will say it later [Tuesday]: That's the empathy for the people who suffer."
Fleischer said the first thing out of the presidendent's mouth should have been "that his heart goes out to those people in Houston who are going through this and that the government is here to help them recover from this."
Second, he added, "the job of the president is to thank those who are the first responders doing all the rescuing. That is a huge morale boost to those working so far away from their families. Their homes are often flooded, but they are sacrificing themselves to save others and the president needs to thank them."
Fleischer said he hopes Trump "will return to that in some other public setting later [Tuesday]."
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