Trump arrived Tuesday in the southern state after the catastrophic natural disaster claimed at least 12 lives and forced tens and thousands of people to flee deluged homes.
The president was greeted with cheers and jeers from 1000 supporters and protesters who had gathered on a rural highway near Corpus Christi. Many were chanting, “USA! USA! USA!”. and, “We love Trump”.
“Thank you, everybody,” he said as he addressed the crowd.
“I just want to say: We love you. You are special … What a crowd. What a turnout.”
Trump praised his Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, Brock Long, for becoming “famous” during his frequent TV appearances, spoke about the historic nature of the storm and marvelled at adoring Texas supporters who greeted him.
As of late Tuesday local time, Mr Trump had yet to mention those killed, visit those affected or call on other Americans to help or directly encourage donations to relief organisations.
That, combined with the white “USA” hat he wore (which is advertised for $40 on his site shop.donaldtrump.com) during the address prompted backlash from those who accused him of gratuitous marketing.
It was the third time in four days that Mr Trump wore on-sale campaign merchandise to Harvey-related events.
Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) spokesman Jordan Libowitz told CNN the president’s decision to wear the hat in official White House photos “even removed from the hurricane, (is) pretty inappropriate”.
According to CREW, the main issue was that it subsequently meant “free advertising for Trump products”. But he said there was no suggestion the president had done anything illegal by wearing the hat.
“There is a difference between what is technically legal and what is ethically right,” he said.
Source: Donald Trump, Hurricane Harvey: POTUS slammed for not meeting victims
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