Rep. Van Duyne to Newsmax: Biden 'Out of Touch' With Texas Storm Response

Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Wednesday that President Joe Biden's administration is "completely out of touch" with the situation on the ground in Texas after Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall on the state's coast early Monday.

With winds reaching 80 mph, the Category 1 hurricane knocked out power for 2.3 million homes and businesses in Texas. A massive effort is underway to restore power, made all the more urgent by scorching temperatures.

Van Duyne, appearing on "Wake Up America," addressed allegations from the White House that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — who has been handling the storm response while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is overseas — has been unreachable to coordinate federal disaster aid.

According to a report in The Hill, Biden and Patrick ultimately connected Tuesday, and Patrick made the formal disaster declaration, which the president then approved.

"I don't think President Biden knows where he is half the time," Van Duyne said. "You know, right now it's trying to get people's power back while they're facing triple-digit heat. … I think Dan Patrick is doing a fantastic job. Trust but verify. You need boots on the ground.

"Pictures paint a thousand words, and when he's sitting there side by side with President Biden's own FEMA staff, obviously doing the work, you've got a president who's completely out of touch. He's [Patrick] doing the work that needs to get done, trying to help millions of Texans get their power back and work through a horrible storm.

"Thank God that we didn't have more loss of lives, but Texas is used to these types of storms. We're going to hold together, but we need the administration to be serious. We need a president who recognizes the fact that trust but verify, and, for God's sake, stop lying to the American public."

Responding to the administration's claim that Biden is "working around the clock" to provide resources for Texans affected by the storm, Van Duyne said, "I think it's a joke."

"At least be consistent with your messaging," she said. "We know that he's out of pocket. You get maybe six hours' worth of work out of the man a day, which I think is being very, very generous. You've got a president who's not there. The rest of the world sees it; 50 million people saw it firsthand during the debate last week. It's embarrassing.

"The Democrats are going just full-blown meltdown mode right now, trying to figure out what to do. There's a lot happening in our world, not just what's happening with the storms in Texas. … There's a lot happening around the world and you've got a president, chief of the United States, who basically belongs in a memory facility and not in the Oval Office."

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