Trump Pulling Presidential, Political Levers During Harvey Crisis

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel once famously said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." 

President Donald Trump has been heeding that advice in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, in ways both presidential and purely political.

Trump seemed to sense the storm was a chance for him to show some presidential-style leadership. He received video conference briefings, tweeted frequent updates and plans to visit Texas on Tuesday.

Best of all for Trump, the Federal Emergency Management Agency — the agency most blamed for botching the reaction to Hurricane Katrina that so damaged George W. Bush's presidency — has largely stayed out of the headlines.

But Trump couldn’t resist using the storm to provide cover for a controversial decision. He announced a pardon of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, an immigration hardliner convicted of criminal contempt, just hours before the storm made landfall Friday night.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans said flatly they disagreed with the decision.

Even if Trump ultimately gets good marks on Harvey, Democrats won't soon let him forget the Arpaio pardon — or miss any chance they get to remind the Latino voters they so desperately need to win in 2018 and 2020.